Down On The Street, alameda, type ii, van, volkswagen, vw

1957 Volkswagen Transporter

You see a fair number of second-generation Type 2 VWs rolling around on Alameda's streets, but the early 1950-67 models are getting pretty rare. I spotted this roof-rack-equipped model still carrying on its vanly duties at age 50...

It's been around, all right; it's a safe assumption that this isn't the only Bondo on the car. But hey, it looks kinda mean like this!

Judging by the roof rack, it's still being used as some sort of work vehicle. Or is the rack some kind of rare factory option that's kept in place by a VW-worshiping owner?

You want simple interior, mein herr? We give you one gauge, und you are lucky to get that much! The designers of the '57 Type II believed in painted sheet metal and absolute simplicity when it came to appointments in the passenger cabin. Gas gauge? Nein! Having driven a couple of reserve-tank-equipped VWs, I can say it's a bit disconcerting to have a vehicle where running out of gas is SOP.

Hooray for this owner's decision not to install one of those hideous RVEECO oil coolers on the side. The stock hubcaps look good, too.

All in all, the early Type II VW is a great example of a vehicle that sort of sucked- it was hideously underpowered, made its Beetle siblings seem like good handlers, and dissolved like a sugar cube in hot water the first time it even smelled road salt. But it could always be kept running, got decent fuel economy considering the cubic capacity, and could fit in tight spaces. Plus it looked great. – Murilee Martin

Related:
Hoon Of The Day: The VW Hippie Bus Can Jump! [internal]

8:30 AM on Wed May 30 2007
By Murilee Martin
4,302 views
15 comments

Comments

eastaboga at 09:32 AM on 05/30/07
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Still cool after all these years....crusie control, we don't need no stinkin' cruise control, use a brick.....How did the Dharma Initiative get this one off the Island?
biminitwst at 09:44 AM on 05/30/07
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@ eastaboga: LOL. I used a brick, too.
36/40hp, top speed 72 mph- 76 if you're drafting a semi!
My rustbucket had the deluxe cardboard door panels and the "safari windshield" option.
Paul Y. is Going Dumb... at 10:26 AM on 05/30/07
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I've lusted after early Type 2s since I was a kid, despite how absolutely awful they'd actually be to drive. Few vehicles are cooler. The bus could be better with hydropneumatic suspension, however, but that can be said of anything.
teargas at 10:34 AM on 05/30/07
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Perfect "hoodride" candidate. Get that on some airbags, stat.
82smugglers at 10:41 AM on 05/30/07
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>>I've lusted after early Type 2s since I was a kid, despite how absolutely awful they'd actually be to drive. <<

say what now? The old type 2s are a blast to drive.

Its a little loud.. It wanders over the road a bit.. I never take it much over 60.. It takes yards to stop.. but thats all the fun..

Last year when I took mine on vacation, I stopped counting at the number of people who waved or gave the thumbs up in the high teens.. on the first day.

I can't stop to fill up the take or grab something from the store without someone telling me about this old VW they used to have or their parents had..

Again.. its a freaking blast to drive..

http://www.82smugglers.com/gallery/vw/66bus
rpm968 at 10:56 AM on 05/30/07
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Dad had one outfitted as a camper. We took it across the country from SF to FL and back in the summer of '68 or '69. Dad perfected the art of drafting behind semis - he would proudly show us that we were doing 60 and his foot was not even on the gas pedal! I also recall that the thing had a Berkeley VW dealer's license plate frame and we were denied entrance at a state campground in Texas - no doubt we were dangerous hippies. Hilarious, considering my Dad was a WWII vet with a crew cut and poindexter glasses.
bzr the paranoid android at 11:33 AM on 05/30/07
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"Hey kids, want some candy?" Nah, it's a VW, it's too cheerful for such molestation duties.
Jon at 11:50 AM on 05/30/07
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Roof racks on old VWs are a very desirable option, so that's probably the reason. You didn't get a shot of the other side so we could tell if it was the even more rare "barn door" model.

My brother had a '61 23 window, but sold it (curses!). That thing was a blast. Pull the rag top back, and cruise to the beach...

I still have a dream of opening a performance auto shop, and using one of these as the parts van. Reinforce the floorboards with some carbon fiber...upgrade the motor to 1600 or higher, and don't be in a hurry.
82smugglers at 11:57 AM on 05/30/07
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>>You didn't get a shot of the other side so we could tell if it was the even more rare "barn door" model.<<

You mean "double door"

Barn door refers to very early models where the engine lid was huge.. about the size of a barn door

You can also tell its a bench seat model by the upper vents in the back. If it was a walk through panel, it would not have those.
Jon at 12:00 PM on 05/30/07
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@82smugglers: My bad, good call. I bow to your superior VW knowledge! :)
82smugglers at 12:11 PM on 05/30/07
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ptthh.. I know nothing compared to some people..
aaron x at 12:31 PM on 05/30/07
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You can still get replacement hub-caps for less than twenty bucks each. I just put four of 'em on my '70 Westy last month.
MurileeMartin at 01:28 PM on 05/30/07
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I've done a fair amount of driving in 1st-gen Type 2s, and they are indeed fun to drive- you have that school-bus-driver horizontal wheel, you feel like a combination of Ernst The Lederhosen-Wearin' Brewmeister and Jerry Garcia, and other drivers never hate you no matter how slow you are. That's fun. But any other vehicle with the Type 2's scary "I vill roll over" handling, Zamboni-like acceleration, and certainty of hideous death in any sort of wreck would be regarded as The Worst Vehicle Ever Made.
MurileeMartin at 01:31 PM on 05/30/07
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Oh yeah, and sorry I didn't shoot the other side- it was parked right next to a big tree. I'll go find it again and see if it has the über-rare double doors.
Elhigh at 01:34 PM on 05/30/07
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Gotta respect the cojones of the folks behind the wheel. Rear-end anything with one of these rascals and your legs get pinched off at the knees. There's next to nothing between you and obstructions in the bow.

I propose this for a refined definition of manliest car: no BS, just gettin' the job done, taking stuff here, taking folks there, any fooferaw or doodads can go into a cardboard box for unloading on someone else's car.

I'd drive it. Carefully, but I'd drive it.