The Hippie Van new life as a therapy bus?
Text by Joanne M. Anderson Photos by Tom Wallace The Volkswagen Microbus, manufactured from 1950 to 2013, unexpectedly became an American icon for many in the counter-culture revolution of the 1960s. Dubbed a hippie van in some circles, the boxy vehicle was a forerunner to modern vans and an interesting alternative to the station wagon. It was only the second vehicle made by VW following its Beetle, which launched in 1938. The consumer version has side windows, removable middle and rear seats, a roomy interior, rear-wheel drive and an air-cooled engine. A commercial model was the first panel van on the market. When VW caught wind of owners using the Microbus for a camper, it designed and manufactured camper conversion kits. 36
NRV MAGAZINE
In a 2019 article titled “History of the Volkswagen Bus” on autotrends.org, writer and car enthusiast Matt Keegan offers this: [Type 1 refers to the Beetle, for the first vehicle by VW, and Type 2 is the Microbus.] "Modify a Volkswagen Beetle platform and its 1.1-liter air-cooled engine and place a van body on top of it and you have the makings of a new vehicle. Like the Type 1, the Type 2 featured a rear-mounted engine and transaxle, adding a ladder frame chassis and a pair of gear-hub reduction boxes to lower the gearing across all four gears. The original engine made just 25 horsepower, then increased to 44 horsepower when a 1.5-liter engine was introduced. Fuel mileage for first- and second-generation Jan/Feb
2022
