The Instagram generation has popularized them through the hashtag #vanlife, in which you can scroll through over 4 million photos of people posing in gorgeous locations with immaculately staged Buses. Not everyone had a Mustang convertible.”īut over the last decade, this once-humble workhorse has become something it’s never been: one of the hottest gets in the vintage auto world. Globally, you can talk to a Brazilian who has great VW Bus memories.

“Low operating cost, low purchase cost when Volkswagen made them. “It’s the most easily recognized van or commercial vehicle on the planet,” said Brian Moody, executive editor for. Aficionados turned them into everything from surf wagons and homes to taxis and work trucks. Its basic frame - a raised, boxy body, a weak engine in the back, bench seats on the inside, a plethora of windows - attracted a devoted worldwide following. And it’s back like never before.įrom 1950 to 1979, the German automaker churned out over 4.7 million of them under different names and models - Westfalia, Samba, Kombi, Transporter - to create one of the most beloved lines of cars worldwide. In fact, the Volkswagen Bus never went away, although at times it has fallen sharply out of fashion. “Everyone trips out because they don’t know they’re still around.” Chrome all around.Īnd the Bus’ namesake piece de resistance: 21 windows that wrap around the sides, the roof and the back so that a ride inside feels like putting wheels on the Crystal Cathedral. A windshield that pops open into two sides. A ragtop that rolls up like a carpet to reveal a sunroof. It has a two-tone brown paint job that tapers into a V in the vehicle’s flat front. He spent three years and $45,000 to restore it from a shell with no wheels or seats to its current, showroom-ready state. His ‘66 is a glimmering shrine to Southern California car culture.

Children flash a peace sign.Īragon is used to it.

And all along the ride, people won’t let him be.ĪAA tow-truck drivers pull up and mouth, “Beautiful car!” Middle-aged couples in Ohio State sweatshirts wave from a bar. LOS ANGELES - “You see? You see? You see?” Enrique Aragon shouts over the loud purr of his 1966 Volkswagen 21-Window Deluxe Bus as he gestures toward gawkers yet again.įor the last hour, the 42-year-old electrician and member of the Volksstyle Car Club has cruised Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, Calif., in his dominguero.

Vw bus with 10 windows on top