A Brief History
On March 8, 1950, Volkswagen of Wolfsburg, Germany, began production on their second motor vehicle after the iconic Beetle, this time called Bus, Kombi, or Transporter, but known in the US as the VW Bus, the VW Microbus, or later, the Hippie-mobile.
Digging Deeper
One of the first van type vehicles, the Bus was originally intended as a light cargo van. Powered by engines making 24 to 54 horsepower in the 1st generation, the Bus was not meant for racing!
Built until 1967 in Germany and until 1975 in Brazil, the 1st Generation was a versatile platform in a variety of iterations, including cargo van, passenger van, camper, and pickup truck, with the rear engine/rear drive set up changed for front engine/front drive, and layout available in four-wheel drive.
Hippies and free spirits flocked to the Bus, often painting them in “mod” patterns. A 2nd Generation Bus was made until 1986, and today you can get an electric powered version!
Question for students (and subscribers): Have you ever owned a VW Bus? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Hajt, Jorg. The VW Bus: History of a Passion. Schiffer Military History, 2012.
Schluter, Christian. 111 VW Bus Stories That You Should Know. Emons Publishers, 2022.
The featured image in this article, a photograph by Volkswagen AG of the first Volkswagen Type 2 in Sweden, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.
