page_title: Volkswagen Westfalia Camper
section_title: Awnings and side tents
hierarchical_section_title: Volkswagen Westfalia Camper / Optional equipment / Awnings and side tents
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of a "large tent" from 1958-65 period, showing "privy" room and optional awning extensions. Photo by Steve Fronczek submitted to Joe Clark for information of the VW enthusiast community on the web. Français&#160;: Photo d'une «grande tente» datant de 1958-1965, montrant une pièce «privée» et des rallonges facultatives auvent. Photo par Steve Fronczek soumis à Joe Clark pour l'information de la communauté enthousiaste de VW sur le Web
context_page_description: Volkswagen Westfalia Camper was a conversion of Volkswagen Type 2 and then Volkswagen Type 2 sold from the early 1950s to 2003. Volkswagen subcontracted the modifications to the company Westfalia-Werke in Rheda-Wiedenbrück.
context_section_description: A number of tent and side awning designs were available as extra-cost additions. Collectors often have difficulty determining whether one of these options was specifically available from and for Westfalia models, or were developed and sold by other camper conversion vendors such as ASI/Riviera and Sundial. ASI built camper tops for the VW Vanagon out of Seattle, WA. They were used on US and Canadian imported VW's only.
  SO-22 "camping box" Period (1952–58). During this period no tent per se was available from Westfalia, but one could obtain a striped canvas awning that stretched almost the length of the vehicle, and extended about six feet out to the side. The awning frame seems to be similar to that of the SO-23 period large tent described below. This earliest of Westfalia tents is shown on the cover of the July, 1955 issue of Popular Mechanics and in a 1956 brochure that describes it as "a large, colorful side awning."
  SO-23 deluxe camper (1958–1965). Two tent options were available during this period. One was similar to the 1952–1958 awning, with the addition of removable side curtains, and the other was a small vestibule or foyer that only covered the side door area. These had no names other than "large tent" and "small tent," and the larger one seems to have been available with and without a bathroom as described below.
  The small tent, available in either red/white or blue/gray stripes, was less popular and thus is less often seen today. It consists of a single piece of heavy canvas, with a strip of vinyl along the bottom acting as a reinforcement and splash guard. It fits over the side-door opening (and has a gap for one leg of the roof rack) as a sort of foyer or vestibule. It's big enough for two adults to stand inside, but little else, and was probably intended as a means of getting in and out of the camper in cold or wet weather.
  The stripes are about four inches wide. The tent itself is about four feet wide by three feet deep, and inside headroom is well over six feet. A long white zipper runs up the middle of the front, while the back is open and contoured to fit the bus. The frame consists of four metal poles which fit into pockets inside the top of the tent and lock together to form a square. Legs on two of the poles fit into brackets which were bolted to the camper's roof. Two additional poles dogleg into the top frame and have small chain-hooks to hold the doors open. The lower ends of these poles fit into holes in the jack supports. Rubber grommets help protect the paint on the doors and the jack points. The lower edge of the tent is secured to the ground with about a dozen metal stakes. Each stake is about six inches long and is formed from hardened 1/4" rods with a loop at one end. Two storage bags made of (usually matching) canvas with leather straps are supplied for the tent and poles.
  The large tent, probably a revision of the SO-22 awning model, has also been called the "privy tent" because most models seen today have a bathroom in the rear side wall. This is a zippered, metre-square room that sticks out toward the back, and is held up by telescoping poles and guy ropes. Open grommets are placed near the top for ventilation.
  This tent is most often seen in a yellow/blue-grey stripe, but were also available in red/white, orange/blue, orange/white, and green/white. The tent's frame mounts to brackets on the roof and bumpers. The front bumper mount is a flat plate of steel bent into an open S or Z shape. Tent poles are steel, either black or grey, around 2 cm in diameter, and there are fourteen sections that must be assembled to create a rectangular, peaked awning with support rods leading to the bumpers. Once the awning has been set up, curtains can be attached to the three outer sides (with Tenax lift-the-dot fasteners) to achieve a weatherproof - though windowless and floorless - portable shelter. Leather straps secure the sidewalls to the support poles, and stakes hold the bottom edges down as with the small tent. An additional set of poles and stakes were available to permit the outer flap to be e
caption: The large tent with optional awning supports
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