If anyone is interested, there is an orange '73 Westy for sale in Rock Springs, GA.  It's sitting at a shop called Test 'n Tune on Hwy. 27 near Northwestern Technical College (formerly Walker Tech).

It's been there several days but I just stopped and looked at this morning.  It's got all the cabinets, the sink and icebox and table intact and look to be in fairly decent shape (I was just looking through the windows).  I couldn't tell alot about the canvas, but what I could see of it inside the pop top looked ok.  It's an automatic and has a 2000cc engine.

It's got a fair amount of typical "Bus Rust" in the rockers and dog legs, and the paint (looks to be original) is kind'a faded, but overall it is pretty solid and straight.

The asking price is $2500.  If anyone wants more info let me know and I'll get the number to call . . . and I can make a few pictures if you need them.

From what I hear, there is really no reason to shy away from an automatic bus.  Anthony tows his Formula Vee with one.

In 1973, An enthusiast magazine (I'll have to check my Brooklands book for which one) road tested an automatic bus.  It only lost about a half second in the quarter mile to the manual.  They were impressed with its smoothness and efficent power delivery.  They also took it on an off-road hill to test its climbing abilities.  It beat the stickshift and nearly made it to the top, past the point of most cars.  The only two-wheel drive car to make it to the top?  A Thing!

So, good transmissions when new, durable enough to still be around, but, yes, more expensive to work on if broke, so be sure this is a well-mantained box first, then drive it without fear!

If you can get it on a lift, check the Diff. fluid to make sure the ATF is not mixing with gear oil and at the tranny dip stick to see what color the ATF is. These automatics love to swap fluids when things start to go south. These trannys are pretty tough when maintained though.