I stalk. That’s what I do. I went head first into a personal transaction (of sizable amount) with a person from halfway around the world during a global pandemic. On top of that, he was in Spain and the vehicle was parked at a shop in Wales! So, I started speaking with the community about this vehicle and current owner. Luck had it that this is a well known vehicle in the European Syncro community as is the owner AND the builder! Boom! I struck gold!

The next stalking I did was once it was on the car carrier transport once I figured out the export and got a company to do it. For whatever reason, they would only ship it to Brunswick, Georgia which is approximately 5 1/2 hours from where I live! (Ugh!) It’s worth it, right? I watched it as it left the UK, went dark as it crossed the pond and then hit the Northeastern US.

Then it bounced it’s way down the coast until getting to Port Brunswick.

…all the way to the port where it was moored.

That was JUST the journey across the sea, which I really was not a part of, was only the first part. I swear, if this Syncro could whisper.. I’d LOVE to hear the stories of where it’s been and what it’s seen! From the previous owners, my understanding is that it started out it’s life being built in Graz, Austria. Legend has it, that it’s one of the few which left the factory assembly line with the dual tire carriers in the rear. From there, it was sent to the Iranian oil fields to work in them. From there, the history gets cloudy but it was then picked up by a well-known builder in the UK / Syncronauts member.

“Goldie”, as she was known overseas, was a ground up restoration. He did extensive work putting in a 1.9 TDI engine, custom snorkel and just a WHOLE bunch of stuff! For me, it was the high top and three knob Syncro which drew me to it. You can literally pull into a town/city and camp in the high top without anyone knowing. This is a stark contrast to the Westfalia tent pop top where you’d have to push up the roof to sleep in the upper bunk. Additionally, this allows for storage when NOT sleeping up there. Lots of reasons why I wanted this one.

In the end, when I first set eyes on “Goldie”… I truly thought they had the gender wrong! This machine is not a female “Goldie” but a brutus off-road vehicle. In that moment I saw him on the dock in Brunswick, GA, she became a he and became Van Diesel!