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