THE ADVENTURES OF THE BLUE LADY

REY JANSE VAN RENSBURG from Springbok writes: A man called Willie Howe used to work as a salesman at Jowell’s Garage in Springbok. Early in 1969, Willie told my father, Christie, that it was time to buy a new vehicle. My dad wasn’t really in the market and said, as a joke, that the only vehicle he’d consider buying was a bus with a sunroof – he wanted to put a ladder through the sunroof and climb up to take better photos of the wildflowers. (My father was a photographer and owner of Van’s Photos, a photography and printing shop in town.)

A year later, Willie walked into my dad’s shop and said: “I couldn’t find one in South Africa, so I imported one from Germany.” My dad paled and walked out to see a beautiful blue kombi standing in the dusty lot. It cost about R2 500, which was a lot of money in those days. But he couldn’t resist and bought the bus from Willie.

The kombi worked hard for many years. In 1973, my father got a contract to photograph the inside of the pipeline that stretched from Henkries, a settlement next to the Orange River, to Okiep, about 110 km further. (The photos would be used to inspect the concrete lining of the pipe.) The kombi carted us and our equipment around for about six months – and 36 000 photos!

We used the kombi to transport a printing press from Cape Town once, and it did job as a moving van – we used it to move all our kitchen cupboards, with the help of a trailer. I was in Cape Town a few years later to buy paper for the printing shop in Springbok when the kombi started coughing. I took it to VW specialists Heinz and Imme Wolff at Wolffsburg Motors. When Heinz heard how hard we’d been working the kombi, he ordered some immediate repairs: He fixed the engine, installed Jaguar coil springs and shock absorbers, raised the rear suspension, replaced the oil bath air cleaner with a dry filter element, and extended the air intake hose into the cabin. He also insisted on teaching me how the engine worked, especially given the extreme conditions of Namaqualand. Lastly, he installed a heating oil meter so I could monitor the kombi’s heartbeat.

We often drove on roads that the kombi clearly hadn’t been designed for. We lowered the tyre pressure in sandy sections and secured scaffolding planks to the roof so we could lay them across deep ditches and dongas.

After my father passed away in the early 1980s, I took the kombi deep into the Richtersveld. It was still a pristine wilderness back then and people thought it very risky. I packed enough fuel, water and food for five days and got six people to join me. There was no way to communicate with the outside world, and no one knew where we’d be in the big mountainous desert. But that’s what adventure is all about!

I knew the kombi would only have one chance to get to the top of Helskloof Pass. Momentum would be key. I lowered the tyre pressure and asked my passengers to get out. I hit the gas and tackled the pass with as much speed as possible, listening as the revs of the engine slowed as the kombi climbed higher. I begged, swore and cheered when I finally made it to the top. The kombi had triumphed again!

A few years later, I took it for a drive in the dunes at Oubeep, south of McDougall’s Bay, for a braai on the beach. It wasn’t long before a man appeared in his 4x4; he wanted to know whether the kombi had washed up there. He wouldn’t believe me when I told him he’d been driving in my tracks! He waited until I was done with my braai and then followed the kombi to see its dune-driving skills for himself. On another tour – a hiking tour this time – the engine died. I had a look and joked that only an elastic band from a pair of women’s underwear would save the Blue Lady. Almost as soon as I said it, one of the hikers handed me her underwear. I kept a straight face, removed the elastic band, and tied it to the carburettor accelerator lever. I turned the key, the engine roared to life and we continued on our way. I sold the kombi in 2001, with almost a million kilometres on the clock. By then it had a reconditioned gearbox and the engine had been rebuilt four times, but the chassis was still original. Last I heard, it was sold to a farmer in the Boland who offers tours in old vehicles on his farm.

I wonder if the Blue Lady is still running…

PIONEER ON WHEELS. The kombi was the first vehicle to reach many parts of the Richtersveld. Some of the roads it pioneered are still in use in the Richtersveld Transfrontier Park.

TOUR BUS. There was a trunk between the front seats so three people could sit next to each other. The middle bench was replaced with a crate, and four people could sit in the back. Bags were stashed at the very back and an extra spare wheel was strapped to the roof rack. The Blue Lady did duty as a workhorse and tour vehicle.