The Last Microbus

It happened to the original Beetle. Now it's happening to the Microbus.  The old Type 2 Transporter, which has been built in Brazil for years, is ending production this month, 63 years after VW began building the world's first minivan.  And as with the last Beetles that left the VW plant in Mexico in 2003, the last Microbus is available in a "special edition" Kombi passenger version.  

Nice, huh?

It has curtains in the windows (well, VW is bringing the curtain down on it), special upholstery, and a sound system with an MP3 player, all for the Brazilian equivalent of $35,600.   Not exactly the hippie van Americans remember.  So is the reason it's being discontinued is because of Brazilian emissions standards?  Actually no - the last Bus has a watercooled, not an aircooled, engine (a 1.4-liter four producing 78 horsepower).  It's being discontinued because it can't meet Brazil's increasingly tough safety standards in a cost-effective way.

Volkswagen die-hards will know that a Dutchman, Ben Pon, noted the preponderance of small-business delivery vans in the United States while trying to find car dealers to sell the Beetle in this country - this was in the late forties - and convinced VW chairman Heinz Nordhoff  to make a similar van  for the European market.  The original Transporter commenced production in Hannover, Germany in 1950, being restyled in 1968.  The passenger version became popular in the United States.     

Speaking of which, attempts have been made, as noted earlier on this blog, to produce a retrograde Microbus to complement the retrograde Beetle in this market.  I know what you're thinking about an all-new Microbus: "I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it . . .."

You can't have it!  Volkswagen has decided once and for all that Americans just aren't that into minivans anymore.  Apparently, we Yanks (and Canadians) can't have the Polo either.  Despite the auto press's reports that the Polo would definitely be in the New World by 2016, Volkswagen of America president Jonathan Browning (who quit this past Thursday for "personal reasons") said in November that, while the Polo could be successful in the North America, it would have to be built on this continent for it to be profitable, and that adding the Polo to the VW lineups in both countries was "not a priority in the near term."

So never mind my earlier post about the Polo . . . except to say that waiting for it to come to America is like Charlie Brown waiting for Lucy to let him kick the football.  As for passenger light trucks, VW is concentrating on a mid-sized SUV for the American market, to be ready by 2016 or 2017 to increase VW's U.S. sales.  The only trouble is, VW is in need of new vehicles to increase its U.S. sales going into 2014.  They're starting to slip again.

Being an American VW fan means always having your hopes dashed.  But now is not a time for sorrow.  Let's celebrate the grand success of the old Type 2 Transporter, the original Magic Bus.

We can go back to carping about Volkswagen of America tomorrow.  No, better yet, later today.