Volkswagen Kombi 1978 News

After teasing the world in March with a concept van called the Bulli at the Geneva Motor Show, a Volkswagen insider has revealed to Carsguide that there is a definite production plan for a 21st century Kombi. The born-again Kombi is coming as Volkswagen makes big changes to its small-car lineup, starting with a new-new Beetle and confirmed production plans for the city-sized Up. The Kombi van - a nickname that came from Germany and stuck around the world - hauled a generation from just after World War II through the hippie era and surfside lifestyle in Australia. It still stars Down Under in a Bigpond television commercial. But safety problems with the rear-engined van, and a change of focus for the VW workhorses that provided the basic package, led to its death and the next Kombi will be comparatively smaller, substantially safer and even more versatile. Based heavily on the Bulli, the six-seater hybrid or petrol-diesel van is expected to go on sale in Europe by late 2012 and possibly in Australia the following year. Carsguide can confirm that Volkswagen is so serious about the Kombi that it recently organised a photography session in the USA with the Bulli alongside a 1950 Kombi van. The new Kombi move comes after an earlier proposal was ruled out because it was too big and costly. Now Volkswagen communications director Christian Buhlmann says the economic key is to fit the Bulli concept onto the same modular mechanical platform to be used by the new Up range of city cars. The platform - known by its German initials as MQB called MTM in English for Modular Transverse Matrix - is intended to be the base for up to 60 Volkswagen Group models in petrol, diesel and electric-hybrid versions. Its use in so many models - including those from Skoda, Seat and Audi - will slash design and production costs. Most importantly, MTM will be the basis for the Up range of small cars that will be first shown in production form at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September before going on sale later this year in Europe. MTM will go into action for the first time as the platform for the new Audi A3, but the VW Up will come as three-door and five-door hatchbacks sized smaller than Polo. The Bulli will become Up's third derivative as the MPV version. "Up is designed to be a range of efficient vehicles for the city,'' says Volkswagen's Buhlmann. "It will have small engines or electric motors but also will be offered with CNG (compressed natural gas) which we see as an excellent alternative fuel.'' Volkswagen has recently taken to the track with CNG-fuelled production cars, as well as competition models running on ethanol. The Up hatchbacks and Bulli are expected to be available with a 1.0-litre three-cylinder diesel or 1.2-litre four-cylinder petrol engine made to the high-efficiency, low emission BlueMotion specifications. It also has been confirmed that an option will be a plug-in hybrid using a small diesel or petrol engine and an electric motor with lithium-ion batteries. MTM can reduce the number of front-wheel drive platforms from 18 today to just two. It allows for large variations in track width, wheelbase length and vehicle length and can support all-wheel drive systems and - specifically for electric and/or hybrid vehicles such as the Up models - a channel in the spine to carry batteries or fuel tanks.

Make fellow campers do a double-take in this full-sized replica of the cult classic 1960’s Volkswagen camper van. Just like the original VW Kombi, an average person can stand up inside it. It’s also generous in size – sleeping up to four adults. All that's left to do is bust out the incense and dream of paisley. Visit Firebox.com for more information.  

Now it's back. Volkswagen's newer take on the, er, new Kombi, was shown at Geneva motor show - but though the shape is familiar, it's not what you'd expect.  For one the Bulli - the German nickname for the original 1950 concept - is smaller. Second, it's powered by batteries.Yes, it's just a concept but whispers on the Geneva show floor say it's very possibly in showroom contention.  Volkswagen product director Ulrich Hackenberg says there's a "big chance" it will be built.The concept Bulli gets seating for six - three in the front, three in the back - and runs on lithium-ion batteries stored under the floor.  The concept has a single, 85kW/270Nm electric motor under the blunt nose and drives the front wheels.Volkswagen claims a 0-100km/h time of 11.5 seconds (compared to an hour and a half in the 1960s Kombi) and a 300km range.  But for production, Volkswagen is looking at a petrol or diesel engine.Given the space under that short nose, this is likely to be the 1.2-litre, three-cylinder petrol or diesel engines.  All the cues of the past - except the gaping accommodation in the rear - are there including the bold VW emblem on the nose.As for size, it's small. The Bulli is 3900mm long (the 1969 bay-window Kombi is 4350mm); with a 2550mm wheelbase (2400mm in 1969), and is 1650mm tall (1918mm).

... pulling on our heart strings.  It's not the first time the German carmaker has toyed with our feelings like this. Back in 2001 VW rolled out a Kombi concept at the Detroit Motor Show but changed its mind about building it for real. It's an emotional thing the Kombi van, and that's been the key to its success in the past and, if it ever gets built, to its future. You see it'd be hard to find somebody who doesn't have a soft spot for the Kombi. Our love affair with the Kombi has lasted 60 years now. It's difficult to explain why when they ain't exactly pretty and they don't go all that well. Yes, not only is love blind, it knows nothing about cars. Any Kombi owner will be able to tell you all about the public affection their transportation gets. "I'd walk out of the house and find people in my driveway taking photos of it," Sharon Burton, 38, of Sydney says. Admittedly, it is a brilliant example of a Kombi; so good in fact that it's on the market for $89,995. It's a 21 Window 1964 split screen model and rare. Burton bought it and shipped it over from the UK last year after seeing it for sale online. When the van arrived in Australia Burton took it on a road trip to the Old Bar Kombi festival in Taree and won the show `n' shine. "When we were driving back from Taree people were hanging out of their cars taking photos on their phones as they drove past. There's something very unique about them. It doesn't matter what you go out and buy, you just can't replicate that look." Burton had her first Kombi when she was at uni. "I had 1968 bay window that had all the internals, the cooker, the bunk beds But I'd always wanted to have either a 21 or a 23 window." A baby is now on the way for Burton and though her husband and stepson love jumping in the Kombi and driving to get fish and chips the change in circumstances has led them hand it over to the folks at the Classic Throttle Shop to sell. "There has always been a market for these wonderful machines," the Classic Throttle Shop's Nicholas Ramunni says. "A generation of buyers now have the means to invest in high quality examples, like the one Classic Throttle Shop has on offer, to re-live the good times and to pass on this experience to a new generation of admirers. "But high quality cars are hard to come by, in particular the variants like this the 21 Window." Dean Coutts from Volkswagen specialists Volkspower in Melbourne agrees. "I'm afraid that it's becoming very difficult to find good cars," he says. Coutts's father started Volkspower in 1957 and Dean's been working there for 30 years. You're not going to find many people who know more about the emotional and mechanical sides of the Kombi and if anybody can explain our love affair with the van it's this man. "Pretty much everybody on the planet has a Kombi memory and they seem to be family memories that people develop, which I think makes people passionate about them for long periods of time." "We've all been in a Commodore but people remember being in Kombis. It seems like a fantasy-type connection people have with these cars. When they go in an old Kombi it fulfils that dream." Somebody who's keeping that dream alive, well, on the weekends at least, is Matt Brinsden, 38, from Melbourne. His current Kombi in an Australian-built 1964 split screen. "I got it in 2001 and spent four years getting it right as money permitted," Brinsden says. "I paid 1200 bucks and I've probably spent 30K on it." Brinsden reckons this is his favourite Kombi, it's been to shows and won trophies, but these days, what with work and family, it only comes out when necessary. "If I get home from work and I've had a bad day I go for a drive in the Kombi and it cheers me up pretty quickly." Brinsden's love for the Kombi started at the age of 19 when he saw one on the side of the road and bought it for $250. "I got this thing home and put it back on the road and loved it - went everywhere in it. That was a 1964 as well. That's where it all began." Five Kombis, marriage, children and 20 years later Brinsden still feels the same way about the bus. But for a little while he dabbled with non-Volkswagens, but it only reinforced what he already knew - that Kombis were the way for him. "For a few years I started chasing 1950s Holdens but they never gave me the same feeling as Kombis." And the answer to why we all love the Kombi so much is clear to Brinsden. "It's almost that they're so ugly they're beautiful. I think the look of them, especially the front of that car, makes people smile," he says "There's this feeling that you get when you're driving, too, and I reckon all my mates would say the same thing - it is a feeling. I go for a drive on the weekend and you can't get the grin off your face."

Volkswagen's iconic Kombi van turns 60 this year and the German carmaker is preparing a fitting celebration. A three-day event in Germany in October is expected to attract thousands of Kombi enthusiasts and their vehicles. The first Kombi was built by VW staff to transport heavy panels around the Hamburg factory, but became a full production model after it was seen by a Dutch dealer. In the 60 years since its introduction the Kombi, now in its fifth generation, has been the vehicle of choice for the flower-power generation and holiday campers, a people mover and a humble goods carrier. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is behind the international VW Camper event, from October 5-7 in Hanover. Thousands of unusual Kombis are expected to make the journey. “Scarcely any other vehicle evokes as many emotions as the VW Kombi,” Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand management spokesman Stephen Schaller says. “Back then it stood for new departures, economic success, independence, fun and travel. “It is pleasant, reliable and a real cult vehicle. We want to establish the unrivalled legacy of our brand with the international VW Camper event.” At the event, visitors will be able to see lovingly restored models such as the T1, T2, T3 and T4 and talk to their owners. They will also be able to see which model was on the road in which decade, and browse through the latest products.