Way back in the early 1980’s – eighty two to be precise – a lady called Jennifer Pedler was a regular contributor to the renowned Volkswagen enthusiast’s magazine “Safer Motoring” (latterly called VW Motoring but now no longer in publication).
Jenny was a van enthusiast – rare in those days as everyone was into Beetles. Jenny felt she was not alone, however and wrote about her van (a ‘57 LHD 23 window samba) mostly from a technical point of view – some might say because it spent most of it’s time in bits rather than on the road but that would be unfair and unkind.
One of Jenny’s better ideas was to start a register of like minded van enthusiasts. The lists were published in Safer Motoring and it wasn’t long before the list topped the 100 mark. With this sort of response it didn’t take long for those enthusiasts to start thinking about forming a club – The Split Screen Van Club was born.
That was 25 years ago in 1983. The rest, as they say, is history. The club has grown and grown but also ticking along in the background the Split Screen Van Register has been maintained. It now has over 4000 entries and can help owners to trace the history of their vans going back over 25 years or more in some cases.
Through the Van Register we have traced original owners for current owners and traced current owners on behalf of former owners, who can then exchange stories and memories all of which help to make the VW bus community something a little bit special.
Details contained in the Van Register help us to further our knowledge of van manufacture, optional extras, export and import, and model rarity.
We would like the register to remain more than just a list of names and numbers so we urge anyone completing a registration form to provide as much detail as possible and to also send us a photograph or two. The Van Register is available for your perusal at shows and events throughout the year so it needs to be attractive as well as factual.
We do not limit access to the register to club members only – we are happy to hear from all split screen van owners past, present or future.
If you have a van, or any information you would like to share with us and fellow enthusiasts please complete the form below.
If you wish to enquire about a van history or specification please e-mail us:
If you have previously completed a form but have since made any major changes, please let us have an update.
Please note this is not a searchable database, if you are interested in the history of a particular van please email the Van Register.