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Car Profiles
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The Classic VW Campervan
The Type 2 VW Camper Van has become a classic design. The front of the VW has a V moulded into it, a huge round badge - and huge round headlamps. The bay window camper, made from 1967 was also very popular. We all seem to like the rounded shape and nostalgic lifestyle of the original VW Campers.
The campervan symbolises the freedom of the open road, travel to faraway places, surfing, sunshine and happy, carefree times.
Humble Origins
The VW Camper had very humble beginnings. The flatbed trucks, transporting parts round VW’s factory gave him the idea. The little flatbed vehicles were noticed by Ben Pon, a Dutch VW importer. He came up with a drawing of a box van, based on the Beetle chassis.
This idea developed into the VW van, launched in 1949. The VW bus was next, and fitting it with bunks and storage was a logial next step. The VW camper was born.
The 1950’s were a period of reconstruction in Europe, so a cheap camper van made huge sense for families wanting to take touring holidays. Much of the appeal of the VW camper were the scaled-down fittings that echoed fifities security and homeliness. Before the era of cheap charter flights and package holidays, the VW camper enabled families to take economical camping and touring holidays.
Opening the barn doors let the outside in, and the small-scale fiitings made th best use of space. Hinged and pop-up roof were introduced later and the side and rear opening roofs became popular on the bay window campers.
Fitting out of the VW Camper was subcontracted to Westfalia, a coach building company located in the German town of the same name. The company fitted the buses with a variety of internal layouts. The German ‘tourist delivery scheme’ encouraged owners to collect their VW campers from Germany. US servicemen stationed in Germany shipped many back to the US, which accelerated their popularity. Soon VW campers were available from VW dealers round the world.
The first model was highly successful
The splittie had opening windshields and V-shaped panel moulding. These buses were 170 cubic feet (about 4.8 cubic meters) in volume and were spacious enough to hold a 15-hand horse.
The VW bus chassis used unitary construction and a ladder frame with the engine and axles from the type 1 - the VW Beetle. The air-cooled engine was just over 1100cc with an output of 18kW at 3300rpm but later (in 1954) the engine size was increased to 36hp. So performance was leisurely.
The standard VW campers included different fold out seat arrangements for sleeping, including the famous rock ‘n roll bed. The interior was lined with plywood panels and there were plywood storage cabinets in a variety of layouts.
Some models had a sink and there was water storage with a pump plus an electrical hook-up. Curtains were standard as were screened windows and a folding table.
Optional equipment for type 11 VW campers included pop up tops and attachable or stand-alone tents and side awnings. By standards of today, the first campers were basic, but they did have a chemical toilet, plus a simple cooker and essential camping equipment.
Some had children’s cots in the driver’s area, all had storage boxes and the swing table. The headroom and space overall is tiny compared to modern RVs.
In the 1960’s, the VW bus was adopted by the hippy counter-culture as by then the older models were available at low cost, the VW camper and the samba bus matched the simple outdoor hippy lifestyle. It is this association which seems to have ensured the enduring popularity of the type 2 VW camper van.
VW Campers Now
50 years on, VW campers and buses enjoy a large following and command high prices among classic car enthusiasts. There’s a great sense of community with large VW campervan events held around the world where owners and enthusiasts gather to share the VW camper lifestyle for a day or two, show off their Campers and admire beautifully restored examples with lowered suspension, tinted windscreens, V8 engines and groovy paint jobs.
More than 60 years on, these immacualte chromed, painted and pimped VW campervans are a long way from Ben Pron’s simple box van idea.
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