The End of the Road for the VW Bus
 

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/...razil/2854119/

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

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.

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:

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

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

You can hire this one in Sydney:
http://hippielimo.files.wordpress.co...usines-001.jpg

I've seen a few of these over the years.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psd1ace3f3.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psa9efbfc6.jpg

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

This one is cool.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...psa533964c.jpg

Did you know they also made a pickup?
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ps0bd4d2df.jpg