| The Volkswagen Type 2 or Transporter (or more | | | | Van with skylight windows and cloth sunroof |
| popularly known as the "Bus") is generally | | | | (Samba-Bus, first generation only; also |
| considered to be the ancestor of the | | | | called Deluxe Microbus); Flatbed truck |
| passenger and cargo van. Taking after the VW | | | | (Pick-up), or Single Cab, also available with |
| Beetle ("Type 1"), the Bus was introduced in | | | | wider load bed; Flatbed truck, Double Cab, |
| 1950. It sparked a wave of imitators like the | | | | with two rows of seats (Crew Cab Pick-up); |
| Ford Econoline, the Dodge A100 and the | | | | Camping van (Westy; with Westfalia roof and |
| Chevrolet Corvan, which even sported some | | | | interior); and semi-camping van that can also |
| utilities similar to VW bus parts like its | | | | still be used as a passenger car and |
| rear-mounted engine. | | | | transporter, sacrificing some camping |
| | | | comforts (Multivan, or Weekender, available |
| The Bus' basic idea is generally credited to | | | | from the third generation on). |
| a Dutch VW importer, Ben Pon, who in 1947 | | | | |
| began drawing a series of designs for the | | | | During the hippie movement in the United |
| van. The first design was not aerodynamic | | | | States during the late 60s and early 70s, the |
| enough, but was soon improved on the | | | | Bus became a widely known symbol of the |
| wind-tunnels of Technical University of | | | | movement. Many of the counterculture sported |
| Braunschweig. Three years later, the more | | | | a Bus as a means of not just transportation |
| aerodynamic van began to roll out of VW's | | | | but expression as well, with some taking many |
| Wolfsburg production plant. | | | | VW bus parts to new design heights. |
| | | | |
| The Type 2 soon assumed many variations of | | | | Those with artistic bents turned the Bus into |
| the basic VW bus parts configuration. Among | | | | their own canvas, taking off from the |
| them were: Delivery van without side windows | | | | traditional factory paint jobs. Soon, Busses |
| or rear seats (Panel Van); Delivery van with | | | | were seen in multi-faceted colors, from the |
| raised roof (High Roof Panel Van), or | | | | surreal to the psychedelic. Anti-war |
| Hochdach; Van with side windows and removable | | | | activists even replaced the VW logo in the |
| rear seats (Kombi, from German | | | | front with a painted peace sign. |
| Kombinationskraftwagen (combination vehicle), | | | | |
| i.e. both a passenger and a cargo vehicle | | | | From its utilitarian beginnings to its hippie |
| combined); Van with more comfortable interior | | | | generation and its present incarnation as the |
| reminiscent of passenger cars (Bus; also | | | | VW Eurovan, the Bus has proven its longevity. |
| called Caravelle since the third generation); | | | | |