November
12, 1950
The First
Hippie Van
The first Volkswagen van rolled off of an assembly line in West Germany. Originally envisioned by a
Dutch businessman, Ben Pon, in a sketch drawn April 23, 1947, the vehicle was
referred to as "the T2" (the T1 having been the "Volkswagen
Beetle"). The van, with multiple windows, would become popular with
hippies and surfers in the 1960s
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. In all 9,541 Type 2s were produced in their
first year of production.
Like the Beetle, from the
beginning, the Type 2 earned many nicknames from its fans. Among the most
popular, are VW-Bus and Bully, Hippie-van, and The Bus. The Type 2 was meant to
be officially named the Bully, but Heinrich Lanz, producer of the Lanz Bulldog
farm tractor, intervened. The model was then presented as the Volkswagen
Transporter and Volkswagen Kleinbus, but the Bully nickname still caught on.
Born in 1950?
Then congratulations for turning 65 and entering
the world of Medicare. If you would like to know
more about the maze we
call Medicare …
