VW Type 2
The Type 2 is the second model of German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen and is a van mechanically based on their first model, the VW Beetle, aka "Type 1."
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2 Variants 3 History 4 Weblinks |
From the beginning, the Type 2 has earned many nicknames from its fans, just like the Beetle has. Among the most popular, at least in Germany, are VW-Bus and Bulli (or Bully). The Type 2 was initially meant to be officially named Bully, but Lanz, producer of the Lanz Bulldog farm tractor, intervened. The model was then presented as the VW Transporter and VW Kleinbus, but the Bully nickname still caught on.
Interestingly, the official German-language model names Transporter and Kombi have been incorporated into English and refer to delivery van and station wagon. Kombi however is not only the name of the utilitarian people transporter variant, but also somewhat confusingly the Australian term for the whole Type 2 family, in much the same way that they are all called VW-Bus in German, even the pick-up trucks.
The Australian band Men at Work made the use of Kombi somewhat popular in other parts of the world by using it in the first line of their 1981 hit record Down Under: "Traveling in a fried-out Kombi ..."
The Type 2 was available as:
The idea for the Type 2 is credited to Dutch Volkswagen importer Ben Pon, who drew the first sketches of the van in 1947. The not very aerodynamic body of the first prototypes was heavily optimized at the wind tunnel of the Technical University of Braunschweig. Three years later, the first production model left the factory at Wolfsburg.
Unlike the other rear-engined Volkswagens, which evolved nearly constantly over the time but never saw the introduction of all-new models, the Transporter was not only evolving, but also regularly being almost completely revised, with variations referred to as versions "T1" to "T5," although only generations T1 to T3 can be seen as evolving from the VW Beetle concept (see below for details). There's a common confusion resulting from people mixing up the "T" with "Type": a VW Type 3 is something completely different from a T3, which is a third-generation Transporter. In short: T stands for "Transporter", it does not stand for "Type". Remember this, if nothing else.
The Type 2 was among the first commercial vehicles in which the driver was placed above the front wheels. As such, it started a trend, at least in Germany, where the Ford Taunus Transit among others quickly copied the concept. The VW remained unique in being rear-engined, though; a disadvantage only for the Panel Van which couldn't easily be loaded from the rear, but an advantage in terms of traction and interior noise.
Another trend that the VW Transporter may not have started, but that it certainly gave momentum to, is the use of nicely-trimmed commercial vans as people carriers. This first took hold in the United States in the 1960s, aided by very intelligent, tongue-in-cheek advertising by the Doyle Dane Bernbach agency.
During the hippie era in the United States, the Bus became a major counterculture symbol since its boxy, utilitarian shape made it everything the American cars of the day were not. Used models were also incredibly cheap to buy. Since that time, however, the original 1950-1967 Type 2 has become a hot collector's item with special variations reaching into five-figure price territory. The second generation has also already passed its low-price years and is on the way up to becoming a collector's car.
T1c Kombi
The first generation with the split front window, called the Microbus among fans today, was produced from March, 8th 1950 through the end of the 1967 model year. From 1950 to 1956 the T1 was built in Wolfsburg; since 1956 it was built in the completely new Transporter factory at Hannover (irritatingly spelled "Hanover" in the US). Like the Beetle, the first Transporters had a 1.2 liter, 25 horsepower (19 kW), air-cooled four-cylinder boxer engine (see also flat-4) mounted in the rear. The 36 horsepower (30 DIN hp/22 kW) version became standard in 1955 while an unusual early version of the 40 horsepower (34 DIN hp/25 kW) engine debuted exclusively on the Type 2 in 1959. This engine proved to be so uncharacteristically troublesome that Volkswagen recalled all 1959 Transporters and replaced the engines with the updated version of the 40 horsepower (34 DIN hp/25 kW) engine. Any 1959 models that retain that early engine at this late date are true survivors. Since the engine was totally discontinued, no parts have ever been available.
The early versions of the T1 until 1955 were often called T1a or "Barndoor," owing to the enormous rear engine cover, while the later versions with slightly modified body, smaller engine bay, and 15" wheels instead of the original 16" ones were called T1b. From the '63 model year, when the rear door was made wider (same as on the successor T2), this inofficial code was T1c. A couple months earlier, a sliding door for the passenger/cargo area instead of the facing normal doors was made available optionally.
In 1962, an updated Transporter was introduced as a factory option. It featured a cargo capacity of one metric ton (1,000 kg) instead of the previous 750 kg, smaller but wider 14" wheels, and a 1.5 liter, 42 DIN hp (31 kW) engine. This was so successful that only a year later, the 750 kg, 1.2 liter Transporter was discontinued. When the Beetle got the 1.5 liter engine too for the 1967 model year, its power was increased to 44 DIN hp (32 kW).
German production stopped after the 1967 model year; however, the T1 still was made in Brazil until 1975, when it was modified with a T2-ish nose and big taillights into the so-called "T 1.5". This was made until 1996, when it was replaced by real T2, production of which was moved there from Mexico (see below). The Brazilian T1 were not identical to the last German models; they sported some characteristic features of the T1a, such as the cargo bay doors, that survived right to the end of T 1.5 production too.
Among American enthusiasts today, it is common to refer to the diffenent models by the number of their windows. The basic Kombi or Bus is the 11-window: two windscreens, two front cabin door windows, six rear side windows, and one rear window. The deluxe model featured eight rear side windows and two rear corner windows, making it the 15-window (not available in Europe). And the sunroof deluxe with its additional eight small skylight windows accordingly is the 23-window. From the 1963 model year, with its wider rear door, the rear corner windows were discontinued, making the latter two the 13-window and 21-window respectively.
1972 T2a Bus
1968 saw introduction of the second generation of the Type 2. It was built in Germany until 1979, with production shifting to Mexico in 1980 and to Brazil in 1996. Models before 1971 are often called T2a, while models after 1972 are called T2b.
Being from the Type 4 car, this all-new, larger engine is commonly called the Type 4 engine today, as opposed to the Type 1 engine which was introduced in the Type 1, or Beetle. There is no "Type 2 engine" or "Type 3 engine", because those cars did not feature all-new engines when introduced. This is a common source of confusion.
In the Transporter, the Type 4 engine was available optionally from the 1972 model year, but US models got it as a standard. Only with the Type 4 engine did automatic transmission become available for the 1973 model year. Both featured 1.7 liters, with 66 DIN hp (49 kW) with the manual transmission, and 62 DIN hp (46 kW) with the automatic. The Type 4 engine was enlarged to 1.8 liters, 68 DIN hp (50 kW), for the 1974 model year, and again to 2.0 liters, 70 DIN hp (52 kW), for the 1977 model year. As with all Transporter engines, the focus in development was not on horsepower but on low-end torque.
Late 1970s T2b Ambulance
1973 also saw the most noticeable exterior changes, making the transition to the T2b complete. The front turn indicators were squared off from the previous version and set higher in the front valence, bigger rear lights were added (for 1972 already) to comply with US lighting requirements as were larger, safer bumpers. Crash safety gained greatly with this change, due to a compressible structure behind the front bumper; T2b were capable of meeting US safety standards for passenger cars of the time, even though being vans they were not required to. The only thing that shrunk on the new model, or so it seemed, was the large and distinctive "VW" emblem on the front of the early model.
Later model changes didn't change much of the design anymore; by 1974, the T2 had gained its final shape. Very late in the T2's design life, in the late 1970s, the first prototypes of Type 2 vans with 4-wheel-drive were built and tested, but production 4WD transporters were introduced in T3 guise as late as 1985.
The T2c, so called since it got a slighty raised roof - by about 10cm - in the early 1990s, was built for South American and Central American markets. The T2c was produced in Mexico until 1991 with the 1.6 liter air-cooled Type 1 engine, and from 1991 until 1996 with water-cooled inline engines from the VW Golf. Since 1997, the T2c is being built in Brazil with air-cooled engines for the Brazilian market, and with water-cooled engines for the Mexican market, the latter easily identified by their large, black front-mounted radiators. (Maybe the latter have since been discontinued, but the air-cooled are definitely still in production, see Weblinks below.)
Since VW Beetle production was halted late in 2003, the T2 remains the only Volkswagen model with the traditional air-cooled, rear-mounted boxer engine that is still being built.
Mid-1980s T3 Kombi
The T3, or Vanagon in the US, was built from 1979 to 1990 and was the third generation of the Type 2. It features an all-new, squarish body that matches the T2 in length and height, but is wider by 12 cm. Additional interior space was found by lowering the engine compartment considerably; the rear door is more than twice as large as the T2's. Body variants remained the same, though.
Until 1982, the T3 was available with the same air-cooled engines as the T2. Starting in 1981, water-cooled diesel engines were optionally available, and for 1984 water-cooled petrol boxer engines replaced the previous air-cooled ones. From 1985 the T3 Syncro represented the first production Type 2 with four-wheel-drive.
Late 1980s T3 Caravelle Synchro
Engine size and performance grew considerably over the T3's design life, from the 1.6 liter, 50 DIN hp (37 kW) and 2.0 liter, 70 DIN hp (52 kW) air-cooled engines to 1.9 liter water-cooled ones with either 60 DIN hp (44 kW) or 78 DIN hp (57 kW), and finally to the top-of the line 2.1 liter, 112 DIN hp (82 kW) fuel-injected version. Likewise, the Diesel engine grew from the introductory 1.5 liter, 50 DIN hp (37 kW) via the most common 1.6 liter, 54 DIN hp (40 kW), to the final 1.9 liter, 65 DIN hp (48 kW). There also were Turbo Diesels available, but only as a 1.6 liter, 70 DIN hp (52 kW) engine. The obvious 1.9 liter Turbo Diesel upgrade was not available until the T4 came out.
On its home market, the T3 was replaced with the T4 for the 1990 model year, but some Synchro models and vehicles for the German post and military continued to be produced in Graz (Austria), where previously only Synchros were built, until as late as 1992. The last German-built T3 were the very sought-after "Limited Last Edition" models, of which 2,500 were built. They're very similar to the Multivan Blue Star and Multivan Red Star models, and feature a very comfortable level of trim.
Meanwhile, the T3 was still built in South Africa, with slightly modified body (bigger windows, different ventilation, less room above the engine), fuel-injected four- and five-cylinder inline engines and new equipment packages. South African T3 production was halted in 2002, by which the T2 survived its successor.
Since 1990, Volkswagen has switched the Transporter over to their new front-engined, water-cooled model family. It is quite noteworthy that this happened almost two decades later than it did for the passenger cars, especially so since commercial vehicles are not bought for sentimental reasons; this is a strong indication that even seen rationally, the classic rear-engined design can't have been too bad.
For more details on Volkswagen's front-engined Transporters, which are to the classic Type 2 as is the Golf to the Beetle, see VW Eurovan.
Names and Nicknames
Variants
Apart from these factory variants, there were a multitude of third-party conversions available, some of which were offered through the VW dealer organization. They include almost everything conceivable, including but not limited to refrigerated vans, hearses, ambulances, police vans, fire engines, ladder trucks etc.History
T1
T2
This second-generation T2 lost its disinctive split front window and was slightly larger and considerably heavier than its predecessor. Its common nicknames are Breadloaf and Bay-window, or Loaf and Bay for short. At 1.6 liters and 47 DIN hp (35 kW), the engine was also slightly larger. The new model also did away with the swingaxle rear suspension and transfer boxes previously used to raise ride height. Instead, half-shaft axles fitted with constant velocity joints raised ride height without the wild changes in camber of the swingaxle transmission.
The T2b, which was introduced by way of gradual changing the original design over three years. The first change was made for the 1971 model year, featuring a new, 1.6 liter "dual port" engine with 50 DIN hp (37 kW), front disc brakes, and new wheels with brake ventilation holes and flatter hubcaps. 1972 most prominently featured a bigger engine room to fit the larger 1.7 to 2.0 liter engines from the VW Type 4 (VW 411, 412), and a redesigned rear end of the body to go with it.
T3
Front-engined Transporters
Weblinks
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