Happy Birthday to the Volkswagen Van
Last week marked the 60th anniversary of the start of production for the iconic Volkswagen Van. The first unit rolled off the line on March 8th, 1950 with an air-cooled 25-horsepower engine and a top speed of only 60 miles per hour.
Despite it’s humble performance, the distinctive people-mover quickly found a home in America’s burgeoning counter-culture movement. Volkswagen advertisements from the period poked fun at cookie-cutter suburbs and strict social roles, calling out to those who wanted to “buy a car that sticks out a little.”
The Transporter was simple, affordable, and easy to maintain. Sales rose quickly and on October 2nd, 1962, the one millionth van was produced.
Volkswagen celebrated the milestone at its factory in Hanover, West Germany by decorating the lucky Bus with flowers and donating it to UNICEF.
The Transporter spawned many different commercial and passenger variations over the years, from a single-cab pickup truck to a life-saving ambulance to a luxurious Samba edition with 23 individual windows and large canvas sunroof.
The van has been celebrated in pop culture, too. Notable appearances include feature billing in The Who song, “Magic Bus,” and a prominent role in the 2006 indie film hit, Little Miss Sunshine.
Like so many of its owners, the Volkswagen Transporter has grown older and more conservative over the years. Today’s model features restrained styling and a conventional front-engine layout. The charm may be gone from the current model but early Type 2 models of the fifties, sixties, and seventies continue to serve as enduring symbols of counter-culture and clever engineering. Since the Transporter is no longer sold in the states, we are left with the Volkswagen Routan. While this modern people mover is more functional, reliable, and family friendly than the bus ever was, it clearly doesn’t share the lineage of our beloved Bus.
Happy 60th Birthday, Bus.
