The end of an era. I've got a soft spot for microbuses

The Last VW Microbus
By Connor Wilkinson

The Last Bus Arrives (www.autoweek.com)

          A sad day is upon us. On December 20, 2013, the very last Type-2 Kombi Last Edition was assembled in Brazil. Sure, America phased it out in the 70's, but Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil had the honor of carrying on the legacy. I love these things- almost got one as my first car when I was 16. At any rate, demand just never died for these things. The worst part is that IT STILL HASN'T. The only reason it is leaving us is that the Brazillian government changed its safety policies.

          The very last production model (the 1,200th) has arrived in Germany to be kept pristine with other VW products from through the ages at the vehicle exhibit of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle headquarters in Hanover. The bus has had many different alterations to it's design, but it retained it's iconic form. an example of these changes- the latest models were water-cooled (where as air cooled has always been the standard in the microbus), but again, the bus remained a "sleek" two-tone bread box. The symbol of Volkswagen MPV's lived a long life with 3.5 million units produced since 1950.

         Now I know it hardly belongs on a site with sections for Hot Rods, drag racing, and classic muscle cars, but regardless- it has been in the automotive world far longer than most vehicles. And that is pretty admirable. See the full article at autoweek.com for more about the revered history of the microbus, the second longest produced passenger vehicle with 63 years of production, second only to the beetle, which is still kicking. Germans do something right with their cars.

-C-

-ThrownRods-

*Edit* Griffin has made me acutely aware of the fact that the Microbus may not be discontinued after all. As I referenced in the first paragraph of the post, the Brazilian production ceased because of governmental policy. Therefore, currently the bus is out of production, however it may very well be brought back soon. See the article at Jalopnik. And yes Griffin, I love little vans. I don't know what is wrong with that. :)