Bye Magic Bus!

[Agschmid]

When I read that production on Volkswagen's iconic "magic bus" is about to cease, I thought the same thing as you: They still make the magic bus?

Well, they do in the land of bossa nova. The Type 2, as it's officially called (the Beetle being VW's Type 1) has been produced for over half a century in Brazil, where it's known as the kombi. It's managed to hang on so long due to Brazil's automotive safety laws being more lax than in the rest of the world; everyone else has foregone the kombi due to its dangerous design, which places the driver forward of the front axle. (In a head-on collision, all you've got between you and whatever you're gonna hit is sheet metal.)

With a recent revision to Brazil's safety laws, VW's plant in Sao Bernardo de Campo will shortly be ratcheting kombi production down from 250 a day to zero.

Here's a cheerfully-scored slideshow of Volkswagen Do Brasil showing the kombi and the plant in its heyday. Keep your eyes peeled for several special variants of the model, including a bookmobile and what looks like a rolling display case for tool salesmen.

Full Article - Core77 Blog

[Tuesday Afternoon]

1. du rec

[OriginalGeek]

2. Travelling in a fried-out kombi, On a hippie trail, head full of zombie

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One of my happiest child-hood memories - 5 or 6 years old - got to spend a a couple weeks during summer with my aunt and uncle and favorite cousins riding around Maryland in their VW bus. Their youngest son was my age and we sat in the back of that bus laughing about dumb shit until our faces hurt. His older brother and sister were getting more annoyed by the minute which just made us laugh more.

I've loved those VWs ever since.

[progressoid]

3. Aw.

A friend of my daughter had a 70's version. He could barely make it up the hill to our house!

[Agschmid]

4. The HP # was/is quite low!