When Brazil stopped producing the Volkswagen Minibus, or the A Combi as they called it, that put to rest the longest production run of any vehicle on the planet. Not the Ford F-150 or the Honda Civic, but the German-engineered symbol of liberal freedom, the Hippie van wears the crown… for now.
It wasn’t just the culture [read: cult] surrounding the VW bus that kept it running so long, but versatility and affordability of owning one and the promise of freedom behind every purchase or refurbish project.
Buying a VW Van, like the purchase of any product worth one’s hard earned cash, is more than pragmatism.
Sure, they clean up well, are easy on the pocketbook for repairs, but these are the ancillary benefits. Owners of VW vans belong to a club of free people. Without saying a word, they tell the world, “you don’t own me.”
The Cult of Bus
“Traveling in a fried-out Kombi, On a hippie trail, head full of zombie, I met a strange lady, she made me nervous, She took me in and gave me breakfast.” -Men At Work
When one opens up a can of worms with a VW van aficionado, that can opener had better be ready for a long [read: endless] chat about models and nomenclature. Invariably, it will turn out some detail in this blog is contestable.
First, there are all the names, Type 2, Transporter, Kombi (or Combi), Microbus, Bus, Camper, Van, Hippievan, Hippewagon, Minivan. The use of these names changes based on region and model.
Then there are the various trim lines. There was the Samba, which had 21 or 23 windows depending on the year. There were the pickups, in every version, off the production line or modified later.
There was the original split windowed Type 2s, the single windshield T2 version of the Type 2 (yes, you read that correct), the T2a, b, and we can’t forget the c with its raised roof.
Whew! Keeping track of all those models was impossible.
The History
VW T3 | Pinterest
They called the first version the Type 2 as the Volkswagen Beetle was the Type 1. You most likely conjure images of the T1 and T2 variants of the Type 2, not the one from the picture above.
Later models would include T3 through T6, sold until 2015. Those later models look less and less like the T2 as the years pass, so we’ll stick to the original version.
The biggest difference most people will notice prior to the 1979 T3, which ditched the rounded corners, was the split windshield versus the single windshield of the previous models, trim lines aside.
Ben Pon, a VW importer sketched his idea for a rear-mounted-engine van, which he intended to build on the frame of the Type 1. It would be a utility vehicle, with the driver way up front, and nothing but potential behind.
Volkswagen ended up designing a new chassis for the Type 2, and after several prototypes rolled them off the line on November 12th, 1949.
For the first year they had two models, a civilian model called the Kombi, which had removable seats and doors, and a commercial version.
In 1950, they came out with the Microbus, and in ’51 the Deluxe Microbus. That same year they added an ambulance model. This basic model stayed the same until 1967 but continued until 1975 in Brazil, when they switched to the second generation (T2) of the Type 2.
A variant of that T2, sometimes called “late bay” version was the last one to roll off the line in Brazil in 2013.
Super Versatile
Part of what kept the VW van alive was how versatile they were. It is telling that in the fist three years of their production they served civilian, business, and emergency needs.
They were so good, every other car manufacturer scrambled to catch up. By everyone, we’re talking, Ford, Dodge, Chevy, Citroën, Renault, Nissan, Toyota, and Subaru. Every year those manufacturers stalled with bringing a van to the market, VW cleaned up the streets with more profits.
These vans worked as daily transportation but were easily converted into small RVs, food trucks, pickups or fleets vehicles. It didn’t hurt that they were cute, more endearing as the years brought more marginalized styles of vehicles.
The VW kept it’s charming look for the most part.
Today’s VW van owners are staring down the last days of freedom unless they can get creative. There are no more parts manufacturers, not OEM parts, but one can find aftermarket parts.
No doubt the coming years will bring a scarcity of parts and the inevitable increase in cost. VW’s pal s to reintroduce a new version, which wouldn’t likely help these diehards, they put to pasture for more global-friendly projects.
We aren’t looking at the end of the VW van, but we will see fewer and fewer of them on the road.
Sources: Quartz, History.com