The Volkswagen Transporter, initially the Type 2,Volkswagen definitively dropped the 'Type 2' designation for the Transporters after the third of six generations. is a range of light commercial vehicles, built as vans, pickups, and cab-and-chassis variants, introduced in 1950 by the German automaker Volkswagen. It was the company's second mass-production light motor vehicle series, and was inspired by an idea and request from Dutch VW importer Ben Pon.
Known officially (depending on body type) as the Transporter, Kombi or Microbus—or informally as the Volkswagen Station Wagon (US), Bus (also US), Camper (UK) or Bulli (Germany), it was initially given the factory designation "Type 2", as it followed—and was for decades based on—the original Volkswagen ("People's Car"), which became VW's "Type 1" after the company's post-World War II reboot, and mostly known, in many languages, as the "Beetle".
The Volkswagen Transporter has been built in many variants. It is best known for its panel vans, but it was also built as a small bus or minivan, with choices of up to 23 windows and either hinged or sliding side doors. From the first generation, both regular and crew-cab, as well as long- and short-bed pickups, were made, and multiple firms sprang up to manufacture varying designs of camper vans, based on VW's Transporter models, to this day.
For the first 40 years, all VW Type 2 variants were forward control, with a VW-Beetle-derived flat-four engine in the rear, and all riding on the same (initial thirty years—T1 and T2), or similar (T3),The Transporter T3 of the 1980s, introduced in 1979, had a marginally longer wheelbase, but continued the same pattern for another decade. wheelbase as the Type 1 Beetle. As a result, all forward-control Type 2 pickups were either of standard-cab, long-bed or crew-cab, short-bed configuration, and because of the relatively high bed floor (above the rear, flat engine), most pickups came with drop sides in addition to the tailgate. In 1979, the third-generation Type 2 introduced an all-new, more square and boxy body, and in the 1980s also introduced a raised four-wheel-drive bus variant.
With the introduction of the fourth-generation Transporter in 1990, the vehicle layout changed to a more common front-engined one—no longer forward-control—and also changed from rear- to front-wheel drive, with four-wheel–drive remaining optional. From then on, the platform no longer shared technological legacy with the Beetle, and Volkswagen just called them the Transporter rather than the Type 2. The new models, though growing a bit in length, got a significantly longer wheelbase that pushed the wheels closer to the truck's corners, noticeably reducing its front and rear overhangs, and extended-wheelbase models were also introduced.
Legacy of the Type 2 As one of the forerunners of the modern cargo and passenger vans, the Type 2 gave rise to forward control competitors in the United States during the 1960s, including the Ford Econoline, the Dodge A100, and the Chevrolet Corvair 95 Corvan—the last adapting the rear-engine configuration of the Corvair car in the same manner in which the VW Type 2 adapted the Type 1's layout.
European competition included the 1947–1981 Citroën H Van, the 1959–1980 Renault Estafette (both FF layout), the 1952–1969 semi-forward-control Bedford CA and the 1953–1965 FR layout Ford Transit. Japanese manufacturers also introduced similar vehicles such as the Nissan Caravan, Toyota LiteAce and Subaru Sambar. Like the Beetle, the van has received numerous nicknames worldwide, including "microbus", "minibus", and, because of its popularity in the counterculture movement of the 1960s and 1970s, "hippie van" and "hippie bus".
Brazil contained the last factory in the world that produced the T2 series of Type 2, which ceased production on 31 December 2013 due to the introduction of more stringent safety regulations in the country. This (after the 2002 termination of its T3 successor in South Africa) marked the end of the era of rear-engine Volkswagens, which originated in 1935 with their Type 1 prototypes.
History
The concept for the Type 2 is credited to Dutch Volkswagen importer Ben Pon. It has similarities in concept to the 1920s Rumpler Tropfenwagen and 1930s Dymaxion car by Buckminster Fuller, neither of which reached production. Pon visited Wolfsburg in 1946, intending to purchase Type 1s for import to the Netherlands, where he saw a Plattenwagen, an improvised parts-mover based on the Type 1 chassis, and realized something better was possible using the stock Type 1 pan.Walters, Jeff. "Type 2 Roots", in Hot VWs, 7/84, p.45. He first sketched the van in a doodle dated 23 April 1947,Walters, p.45. proposing a payload of and placing the driver at the very front.Walters, p.46. Said sketch is now on display at the Rijksmuseum. Production would have to wait, however, as the Volkswagen factory was at capacity producing the Type 1.
When capacity freed up, a prototype known internally as the Type 29 was produced in a short three months. The stock Type 1 pan proved to be too weak, so the prototype used a ladder chassis with unit body construction. Coincidentally, the wheelbase was the same as the Type 1's. Engineers reused the reduction gear from the Type 82, enabling the 1.5 ton van to use a flat four engine.
Although the aerodynamics of the first prototypes were poor (with an initial ), engineers used the wind tunnel at the Technical University of Braunschweig to optimize the design. Simple changes such as splitting the windshield and roofline into a "vee" helped the production Type 2 achieve , exceeding the Type 1's .Walters, p.47. Volkswagen's new chief executive officer Heinz Nordhoff (appointed on 1 January 1948)Walter, p.46. approved the van for production on 19 May 1949, and the first production model, now designated Type 2, rolled off the assembly line to debut on 12 November. Only two models were offered: the Kombi (with two side windows and middle and rear seats that were easily removable by one person) and the Commercial. The Microbus was added in May 1950, joined by the Deluxe Microbus in June 1951. In all 9,541 Type 2s were produced in their first year of production.
An ambulance model was added in December 1951, which repositioned the fuel tank in front of the transaxle, put the spare tire behind the front seat, and added a "tailgate"-style rear door. These features became standard on the Type 2 from 1955 to 1967. 11,805 Type 2s were built in the 1951 model year.Walters, p.94. These were joined by a single-cab pickup in August 1952, and it changed the least of the Type 2s until all were heavily modified in 1968.
Unlike other rear engine Volkswagens, which evolved constantly over time but never saw the introduction of all-new models, the Transporter not only evolved, but was completely revised periodically, with variations retrospectively referred to as versions "T1" to "T5" (a nomenclature only invented after the introduction of the front-drive T4 which replaced the T3). However, only generations T1 to T3 can be seen as directly related to the Beetle (see below for details).
The Type 2, along with the 1939 Citroën TUB and the 1947 Citroën H Van, are among the first "forward control" vans in which the driver was placed above the front roadwheels. They started a trend in Europe where the 1952 GM Bedford CA, 1958 RAF-977, 1959 Renault Estafette, 1960 BMC Morris J4, and 1960 Commer FC also used the concept. In the United States, the Corvair-based Chevrolet Corvan cargo van and Greenbrier passenger van adopted the use of the rear-engine layout of the Corvair car in the same manner that the Type 2 had used the rear-engine layout of the Type 1, using the Corvair's horizontally opposed, six-cylinder air-cooled engine for power. Except for the Greenbrier, various 1950s–70s Fiat minivans, and the Mazda Bongo, the Type 2 remained unique in being rear-engined. This was a disadvantage for the early "barndoor" Panel Vans, which could not easily be loaded from the rear because the engine cover intruded on interior space, but generally advantageous in traction and interior noise. The Corvair pickup used a folding side panel that functioned as a ramp into the bed when opened, and was called the "Rampside". The VW "pickup" in both single and double cab versions had a bed/floor that was flat from front to back at the height of the engine compartment cover, which had the advantage of a flat load floor but at a greater height, while the Corvair "pickup" bed/floor stepped down in front of the engine compartment to a much lower load floor which worked well with the unique "Rampside" configuration for loading.
In 2017, decades after production of the Type 2 ended, Volkswagen announced the introduction of an electric VW microbus based on the new MEB platform in 2022.
Variants
The Type 2 was available as a: Panel van, a delivery van without side windows or rear seats. Double-door Panel Van, a delivery van without side windows or rear seats and cargo doors on both sides. High Roof Panel Van (), a delivery van with raised roof. Kombi, from (combination motor vehicle), with side windows and removable rear seats, both a passenger and a cargo vehicle combined. Bus, also called a Volkswagen Caravelle, a van with more comfortable interior reminiscent of passenger cars since the third generation. Lotação (share taxi), a version exclusive to Brazil, with six front-hinged doors for the passenger area and four bench-seats, catering to the supplemental public transport segment. Available from 1960 to 1989 in both the split-window and "clipper" (fitted with the bay-window front panel) bodystyles. Samba-Bus, a van with skylight windows and cloth sunroof, first generation only, also known as a Deluxe Microbus. They were marketed for touring the Alps. Flatbed pickup truck, or Single Cab, also available with wider load bed. Crew cab pick-up, a flatbed truck with extended cab and two rows of seats, also called a Doka, from . Westfalia camping van, "Westy", with Westfalia roof and interior. Included optional "pop up" top. Adventurewagen camping van, with high roof and camping units from Adventurewagen. Semi-camping van that can also still be used as a passenger car and transporter, sacrificing some camping comforts. "Multivan" or "Weekender", available from the third generation on.
Apart from these factory variants, there were a multitude of third-party conversions available, some of which were offered through Volkswagen dealers. They included, but were not limited to, refrigerated vans, hearses, ambulances, police vans, fire engines and ladder trucks, and camping van conversions by companies other than Westfalia. There were even 30 Klv 20 rail-going draisines built for Deutsche Bundesbahn in 1955.
In South Africa, it is known as a variation of the ice cream van (first, second, and third generations).
First generation (T1; 1950)
The first generation of the Volkswagen Type 2 with the split windshield, informally called the Microbus, Splitscreen, or Splittie among modern fans, was produced from 8 March 1950 until the end of the 1967 model year. From 1950 to 1956, the T1 (not called that at the time) was built in Wolfsburg; from 1956 to 1967, it was built at the new Transporter factory in Hanover. Like the Beetle, the first Transporters used the 1100 Volkswagen air-cooled engine, a , DIN-rated , air-cooled flat-four-cylinder "boxer" engine mounted in the rear. This was upgraded to the 1200 – a unit in 1953. A higher compression ratio became standard in 1955; while an unusual early version of the engine debuted exclusively on the Type 2 in 1959. Any 1959 models that retain that early engine today are rare. Since the engine was discontinued almost immediately, no spare parts were made available.