I don’t know what it is about the Volkswagen bus, I just know I like them an awful lot and would love to have one some day.
The Volkswagen Bus was the first minivan, invented by the same folks that brought the world the Volkswagen Beetle or as some of you may know it as the Bug. The Volkswagen Bus was for years in fact really a big, boxy cargo van type body on a Beetle chassis. The Volkswagen Bus even used the Beetle’s air-cooled horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine mounted in the tail just like the Bug did.
The Volkswagen Type 2 (T2) is known officially (depending on body type) as the Transporter, Kombi or Microbus, or, informally, as the Bus (US) or Camper (UK). It is a panel van introduced in 1950 by the German automaker Volkswagen as its second car model.
Like the Beetle, the van has received numerous nicknames worldwide, including the “microbus”, “minibus” and because of its popularity during the counterculture movement of the 1960s, “Hippie van”. I have just always known it as Volkswagen Bus so we’ll go with that.
Brazil contained the last factory in the world that produced the T2. Sadly production in Brazil ceased on December 31, 2013
There are a lot of sites on the internet where you can learn all the specs and the history of the Volkswagen bus but frankly that stuff bores me. If you are interested in torque and transaxles and drag ratios please go to this site as they have all that for you.
When I was shopping for my very first car the bus took second place to a 1979 Toyota Carolla. So close. Since then I have seen so many different styles and things done to customize them it is hard to say even what version I like the best although I think maybe this 1966 version is my fave.
Once I saw one where they had take the bench seating and turned them sideways facing the center of the bus and put in a mini bar and a tv and essentially turned the Volkswagen bus into a limo. Pretty cool.
One day, I will get a Volkswagen bus and when I do, who knows what I will do to it but one thing is for sure, it will be nice and shiny and I will be smiling behind the wheel. Keep a look out for me.
What do you think about the Volkswagen bus? Let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear your ideas of how you would pimp out a Volkswagen Bus.
Check out my Volkswagen Bus board on Pinterest and my board about Volkswagen Bus limousines. 🙂