After 63 years of production, spinning out over 10 million vehicles, the mighty beast that is the VW Type 2 will be created no more.
After 63 years of production, spinning out over 10 million vehicles, the mighty beast that is the VW Type 2 will be created no more. Production of VW Campervans in Brazil will cease in December 2013. Whilst fears grow that this is the end of the road for the iconic van, here at Kettlemag we cling to the hope that a true legend can never die.
Symbolic freedom
So health and safety have stamped out the ultimate freedom wagon; for what is the VW Camper if not a symbol of experience, travel, flexibility and freedom? Whilst safety is important, I'm not going to mock the invention of anti-breaking systems nor air bags, I do have to stress that the VW Camper is not a speedy vehicle. It's happy right there at about 40mph on the motorway, or 25 mph on the open road and this is not because it can't go any faster, (even the old vans are suprisingly speeding), it's because when it comes to driving a Vdub it is all about the journey.
The Vdub is the journey and this journey will continue long after we are gone. My van is currently the same age as me. Yet whilst my skin becomes crinkled, grey and unrecognisable my camper will simply fashion a lick of paint to look brand new, when I die my camper will live on (unless my mean and tasteless descendants stupidly scrap it).
Family heirloom
My Vdub has featured in many a holiday snap, this summer alone Campo (you've got to name it) has attended seven festivals, creating life long memories for not just me, but my children too. How awesome must it be look back on family pictures seeing yourself tucked up in the hammock across the front seats, to see the van feature alongside open fires, to have thrown up all over it, to have countless tinned meals in billycans, to admire the countless stickers which have marked all the places you've visited? Very. My children will tell these stories to their children (I will make sure) and thanks to the internet the pictures and memories will be there eternally (or until the internet goes tits up).
Classic Vehicles
So there are no more new Dubs, who is bothered about that when a spruced up Bay or Splity can carry the same value as a house? The classic vans are making a come back, if the 1960 vehicles are being given a new lease of life the same will happen to the Splitty, the T25, T3, T4, the Kombi. All that has truly happenened with the news from Mexico is that VW owners have been propelled to a new pedestal from which they gloat 'I own a VW Campervan, they've stopped making them, don't you know?'.
If you have to get your hands on a Vdub before productton stops then do take a look at the Konbi camper, in a retro Atlanta blue. The Kombi Last Edition has a 1.4 litre engine delivering 77bhp and a four speed transmition. There is only 600 of these being made so if you want one I suggest cracking open the piggy bank now.
