1962 Volkswagen Transporter

As World War II came to a close, enthusiasm in Europe grew among Allied occupation authorities and the local German people for the return of the former KdF-Wagen plant in Wolfsburg to production. At the time, the only civilian product being produced was the Dr. Ferdinand-Porsche-designed 'People's Car' which was quickly renamed the Volkswagen Type 1 as the launch product of Volkswagenwerk AG. The Type 1 was small, inexpensive, efficient, easy to maintain, and would serve to stimulate the German economy by putting people to work manufacturing the car and providing a vehicle that was affordable to most everyone.

The Type 1 had a basic design, sound engineering, and was the perfect starting point for the birth of supplementary models. As early as 1946, British Major Ivan Hirst had sketched a lift-truck derivative, initially intended for use within the Wolfsburg facility. Around 1947, Ben Pon made the first generally acknowledged rough sketches predicting the boxy Type 2 Transporter. Much like the Type 1, the Type 2 allowed people to move - it put people on wheels - and in this case, allowed larger families to travel in greater comfort or to have an efficient work vehicle.

The Volkswagen Transporter was introduced at the Geneva Auto Show in 1949, and by the time production ended in Brazil in December 2013, more than nine million had been built. They were known as the Bulli in Germany and were produced in air-cooled, and later water-cooled, wasserbus variations, before the arrival of the front-engine Eurovan in 1993.

The first generation, produced from 1950 to 1967 (first sold in the U.S. in 1952), was known as the 'split-window' due to its two-piece windshield. Power was sourced from a 1,131 cubic centimeter, 25 horsepower engine that was enlarged to 1,192cc in 1953 and then to 1,285 cc and 40 horsepower in 1959. A full synchromesh transmission was fitted in 1959, and the one-millionth Transporter was sold in 1962.

Volkswagen offered a vast selection of commercial variations of the Transporter as it was used for a variety of uses, including buses, ambulances, police cars, crane trucks, fire trucks, hearses, campers, and even railroad speeders. Perhaps the most popular Type 2 models were the Samba and Kombi people-movers. A pickup version arrived in 1952, and in 1957, a crew cab model with a shorter five-foot bed became available. Volkswagen introduced the Microbus in 1961 and was one of the earliest vehicles to be offered as a camper from the factory. Westfalia-Werke was responsible for converting the microbus into a camper, which became known as simply the 'Westfalia.' Volkswagen promoted it as 'the handiest, handsomest motorized house you could possibly wish to enjoy.' The microbus had two upholstered bench seats that converted into a bed, a front seat that could sleep children, storage space, a wardrobe, and a specially designed tent to increase the living area. The Westfalia, known as the SO, for sonderausfuhrungen (special equipment) was the perfect vehicle for long trips and those that involved camping. Two models were available through 1965, the SO-34 and the SO-35. The SO-34 has a laminated white interior, while the SO-35 featured finished wood.

The Transporter was suited to a virtually endless list of roles, from a utilitarian vehicle to the 23-Window Deluxe, it became a runaway success bested only by the Beetle. While imports to the USA started slowly, the Type 2, like the Beetle, became very popular and eventually became the symbolic motor vehicle of the rising 'flower power' movement of the 1960s.

The '23-Window' Microbus was so named for its five windows per side, eight skylights, a split-screen windshield, a large rear windshield, plus distinctive curved rear corner windows. The Single Cab pickup had a single bench seat that could accommodate the driver and two passengers, and a long pickup bed in the back. Due to the rear-mounted engine height, the floor of the bed was higher than other pickups of the era. This did, however, eliminated the need for inner fender wells protruding into the loading area. The space beneath the floor could be configured to hold optional tool box compartments with locking doors. Another unique feature of the VW pickup was the ability of all three sides of the bed to be unlatched and folded down, thus providing a flat surface that could be loaded or unloaded with ease. Expanded the usefulness even further, Volkswagen began offering a 'Double Cab' version in 1958, with the extended cab housing a second bench seat for three passengers and a short 'pickup' bed at the rear. The double Cab Pickup was powered by the 1600cc air-cooled, horizontally opposed, overhead-valve four-cylinder engine backed by a four-speed transmission in unit with the rear transaxle. In the front was an independent suspension while the rear used transverse torsion bars and upper/lower trailing arms and independent in the rear with trailing arms and torsion bars.

The 1962 Transporter

In the United States, the Transporter four-door Kombi was priced at nearly $2,000, while the four-door 'station wagon' version was priced at $2,275. The 'DeLuxe Wagon' listed at $2,660 and the four-door 'Camper Station Wagon' was nearly $3,000. The horizontally opposed, overhead-cam, air-cooled four-cylinder engine had a light-alloy block and head and finned cylinders with cast-iron cylinder liners. Its displacement measured 1,192cc and it had four main bearings, solid valve lifters, a Solex single-barrel carburetor, and delivered 40 horsepower at 3,900 RPM and 64 lb-ft of torque. There was a four-speed manual transmission, a worm and sector steering system, and hydraulic drum brakes.

by Daniel Vaughan | Dec 2021