The End of the Road for the VW Bus

[vienna]

For those of us my age or older, this is a sad passing of an icon of the 60s and 70s. I never owned one, but I spent many happy and eventful hours in VW buses running around San Francisco and Los Angeles. Several years ago, I worked with a fellow who still had an original VW bus and we used to use it to go between office locations. Growing up in San Francisco, there is a system of jitney buses and back in the 60s to the late 70s, VW buses were a staple of the jitney routes and I used to ride them frequently to and from work or to get to downtown quickly...


http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/09/23/vw-van-brazil/2854119/

[Dread Knot]

I guess those remaining hardcore hippies will have to walk or take the real bus now.

[BrucePartington]

Given it is a classic and an icon, and so many were produced, I doubt they will suddenly disappear.
Enthusiasts will keep them running for years to come, and parts should be easy to obtain for many, many years.

[Schroeder]

I wasn't even aware they were still produced. Over here they pretty much vanished years ago. It's become pretty seldom to still find some on the roads. Too bad. It was a nice little transporter.:yep:

[Tribesman]

VW camper.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56XL0TysIn0

[Jimbuna]

That vehicle certainly brings back a few 'happy' memories :cool:

[vienna]

I was just thinking back to something I saw happen several times in San Francisco. The city has a lot of hills that give even 4WD vehicles pains. There is nothing like the sight of a bunch of people pouring out of an underpowered VW bus, getting behind it, and then pushing the bus the remainig distance to the top of a hill...

[Mr Quatro]

I remember San Francisco lived there for a year ... my friend had a alarm on his van that he would set after he parked it using a level filled with mercury and if the level changed the mercury would shift and set off the alarm.

I wonder how much the last VW bus cost ... an old 70's used one around here is in the 6k to 8k range USD

[Ducimus]

Can't say i ever cared much for the Hippie bus.

[AVGWarhawk]

The buses are neat. So are the older bugs. I can say my experience with VW have not been pleasant.

[nikimcbee]

Don't worry, they will live on in Oregon.

[Buddahaid]

I sold my 1969 camper earlier this year and divested myself of true VW's for the first time since 1978. I miss them but I no longer feel like working on cars. It used to be fun but I'm over it now.

[Wolferz]

The last bus I saw was sitting in the middle of Dixie Highway on fire.

Talk about your Phirephegneugen! The burning experience.:huh:

[TarJak]

You can hire this one in Sydney:
http://hippielimo.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/kombi-limousines-001.jpg

[Sailor Steve]

I've seen a few of these over the years.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/CoolVW_zpsd1ace3f3.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/CoolVW_zpsd1ace3f3.jpg.html)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/CoolVW2_zpsa9efbfc6.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/CoolVW2_zpsa9efbfc6.jpg.html)

I also saw one with a fighter canopy grafted onto the roof.

This one is cool.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/CoolVW3_zpsa533964c.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/CoolVW3_zpsa533964c.jpg.html)

Did you know they also made a pickup?
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/CoolVW4_zps0bd4d2df.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/CoolVW4_zps0bd4d2df.jpg.html)

[Catfish]

^the 'pickup' Version is called 'Doka', for 'Doppelkabine', and quite frequent (or better: was).

My first longer travel after having my driving permit was a tour starting at Kassel, to La Ciotat at the mediterranean, along the Côte d'Azur St. Raphael, Rapallo, Monte Carlo, Ventimiglia down to Pisa, and then across Italy to Venice, and Grado. And then back to Germany, over the Alps.

All in a VW T2 bus .. driving was much fun, especially along those narrow coast roads, always harrassed by those Fiat 'Supermirafioris' ..

I later repeated the tour in a Triumph Spitfire 1500, my first own car. But the travel with the bus (converted to a camper Version) was much less stressing :)

[Jimbuna]

Two more cool examples

http://liftedride.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/stumpy_car1.jpg (http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=KF0AqONgxakPPM&tbnid=JHqt2arJTcpvoM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fliftedride.com%2Flifted-trucks%2Fcategory%2Fweird-vehicles%2F&ei=bnhEUrfbOtGqhAes9oAg&bvm=bv.53217764,d.ZGU&psig=AFQjCNG4tGRRq_ox9RgbRCIPpyG3IjP3qg&ust=1380305350332263)
http://www.vwcamperblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/vw-bendy.jpg (http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=WkTU80jmMLX35M&tbnid=kTs4vZTaDCgwdM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vwcamperblog.com%2Ftag%2Fvolk swagen-camper%2Fpage%2F5%2F&ei=oHhEUt23HoLG7Aa-moCICA&bvm=bv.53217764,d.ZGU&psig=AFQjCNG4tGRRq_ox9RgbRCIPpyG3IjP3qg&ust=1380305350332263)

[flostt]

That vehicle certainly brings back a few 'happy' memories :cool:

OOOH YES, it does.......I learn't how to drive with one of them :up: