For Sale: 1991 Volkswagen Transporter in Santa Barbara, California for sale in Santa Barbara, CA
Vehicle Description Legend from the factory has it that there were only 1500 TriStars ever built.
This was between 1988 and 1991.
1000 of them were 2 Wheel Drive.
Only about 500 were 4 Wheel Drive.
Of those 500 4?4's, less than 120 were 1991's.
While most DOKA's stayed in Europe, a few made their way across the Oceans.
One was even special ordered and sent to Australia, and 19 of them made it to North America.
Well, 18 actually, and here is the story In mid 1990 a Canadian mining company contacted VW Germany with their needs for an off road mining work vehicle and the logical choice for the terrain they were working in was the Syncro platform.
The DOKA fit the bill because not only was it 4?4, it could haul both cargo and 4-5 people comfortably at the same time.
The mining company signed a promissory note and 19 of the DOKA's were ordered for the operation.
As the story goes, 19 were shipped, but only 18 made it.
Now either #19 fell off the train transport, or #19 caught fire once it arrived.
Both stories are out there.
I bet it was both.
It fell off the train, bounced twice, and caught fire.
Either way, there went about 6% of the existing North American DOKA's.
Now these weren't just DOKA Syncros, but they were the Limited Edition TriStars.
Luxury.
This meant they would have the extra door for passengers on the drivers side that neither the DOKA 2WD or the DOKA 4WD standards had.
As well, only the TriStar had the following options that made it an even more comfortable and utilitarian ride:
Heated drivers seat Rear passenger heat Sliding windows in rear passenger doors Front seats with arm rests Grey door to door carpet front, rear and all the way into the storage bay instead of standard rubber matting Light grey cloth interior front and rear Interior Oh Scheisse! handles with integral map reading lights Illuminated vanity mirror on passenger side Padded dash cover Heated rear window Door storage pockets Map pockets on back of front seats Additional body insulation for cold weather Power windows Rear differential lock Twin rectangular headlights Wheel arch trim And, oh yeah, cup holders.
On with the storySo during the time the vehicles were making their way across the ocean, the mining company that ordered them came into some hard times and went belly up.
Well VW Canada took those 18 units and spread them across the country to sell at their VW dealerships with 1 of them landing at the Toronto location.
Here is where it gets personal.
Our little DOKA landed in the hands of Karl at the Toronto VW Store.
Karl knew a fellow that was really into VW's and collecting cars and motorcycles in general.
Freddy was his name.
Still is.
So Karl gave Freddy a call and told him what had just arrived.
Freddy popped over to look at it.
Freddy had never seen one, but he knew it was a rare bird and purchased it that day.
That was back in the Fall of 1991.
Fast forward to Spring of 2012.
Freddy is a few years older now and decides it's time to thin his collection.
Somehow he finds us online and puts in a call to Chris at the office.
Freddy tells him he has a rare old VW truck that he wants to sell.
Chris texts me a few details since I am the Syncro guy to see what I think.
I am in South America at the time but I tell him it sounds interesting.
We had never had a DOKA Syncro.
Then a second text arrives that says Good news is it only has 48,000 KM's on it, but forget it cause the bad news is, it's in Canada.
My responseCanada Then we are definitely interested because only Canada got them legally.
If he didn't import it and he is the original owner, it could be one of the Canadian 18! I was pretty excited but Chris reminded me that Canada generally means rust, and always means paperwork at the border to get it legit in the USA.
When I got back from my trip, and back to the office, I put a call into Freddy and he told me all about his funny little rare truck.
Then I told him what I knew about them and sure enough we determined it was one the special orde.
This was between 1988 and 1991.
1000 of them were 2 Wheel Drive.
Only about 500 were 4 Wheel Drive.
Of those 500 4?4's, less than 120 were 1991's.
While most DOKA's stayed in Europe, a few made their way across the Oceans.
One was even special ordered and sent to Australia, and 19 of them made it to North America.
Well, 18 actually, and here is the story In mid 1990 a Canadian mining company contacted VW Germany with their needs for an off road mining work vehicle and the logical choice for the terrain they were working in was the Syncro platform.
The DOKA fit the bill because not only was it 4?4, it could haul both cargo and 4-5 people comfortably at the same time.
The mining company signed a promissory note and 19 of the DOKA's were ordered for the operation.
As the story goes, 19 were shipped, but only 18 made it.
Now either #19 fell off the train transport, or #19 caught fire once it arrived.
Both stories are out there.
I bet it was both.
It fell off the train, bounced twice, and caught fire.
Either way, there went about 6% of the existing North American DOKA's.
Now these weren't just DOKA Syncros, but they were the Limited Edition TriStars.
Luxury.
This meant they would have the extra door for passengers on the drivers side that neither the DOKA 2WD or the DOKA 4WD standards had.
As well, only the TriStar had the following options that made it an even more comfortable and utilitarian ride:
Heated drivers seat Rear passenger heat Sliding windows in rear passenger doors Front seats with arm rests Grey door to door carpet front, rear and all the way into the storage bay instead of standard rubber matting Light grey cloth interior front and rear Interior Oh Scheisse! handles with integral map reading lights Illuminated vanity mirror on passenger side Padded dash cover Heated rear window Door storage pockets Map pockets on back of front seats Additional body insulation for cold weather Power windows Rear differential lock Twin rectangular headlights Wheel arch trim And, oh yeah, cup holders.
On with the storySo during the time the vehicles were making their way across the ocean, the mining company that ordered them came into some hard times and went belly up.
Well VW Canada took those 18 units and spread them across the country to sell at their VW dealerships with 1 of them landing at the Toronto location.
Here is where it gets personal.
Our little DOKA landed in the hands of Karl at the Toronto VW Store.
Karl knew a fellow that was really into VW's and collecting cars and motorcycles in general.
Freddy was his name.
Still is.
So Karl gave Freddy a call and told him what had just arrived.
Freddy popped over to look at it.
Freddy had never seen one, but he knew it was a rare bird and purchased it that day.
That was back in the Fall of 1991.
Fast forward to Spring of 2012.
Freddy is a few years older now and decides it's time to thin his collection.
Somehow he finds us online and puts in a call to Chris at the office.
Freddy tells him he has a rare old VW truck that he wants to sell.
Chris texts me a few details since I am the Syncro guy to see what I think.
I am in South America at the time but I tell him it sounds interesting.
We had never had a DOKA Syncro.
Then a second text arrives that says Good news is it only has 48,000 KM's on it, but forget it cause the bad news is, it's in Canada.
My responseCanada Then we are definitely interested because only Canada got them legally.
If he didn't import it and he is the original owner, it could be one of the Canadian 18! I was pretty excited but Chris reminded me that Canada generally means rust, and always means paperwork at the border to get it legit in the USA.
When I got back from my trip, and back to the office, I put a call into Freddy and he told me all about his funny little rare truck.
Then I told him what I knew about them and sure enough we determined it was one the special orde.
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