There’s so much delightfully misguided about this image from a 1991 South African Volkswagen bus brochure that I feel like we should talk about it, at least a bit. Oh, and as an aside, you can always tell a car picture is from South Africa (well, up until the 90s or so) because South Africa is the only country that required tiny white reflectors on the fronts of their cars. In this VW image you can see them, mounted on the underside of the bumper. Cool, right? Sure it is.
Anyway, back to this dork. I like the two-tone Bus there – we called this body style, the T3 Type 2, the Vanagon here in America, but in South Africa these went by various names, including Microbus and Kombi, and fancy ones were called Caravelles. The guy though, with the sort-of matching outfit (including red shoes!) and that guitar and that expression, all while parked right in the middle of the damn road and leaning on the bus like that – I can’t quite put my finger on one particular detail that does it here, but this whole setup is somehow wildly unappealing.
Like, the idea that you might be stuck in a VW bus with this guy for some long trip on an empty highway in the middle of a surprisingly well-manicured green nowhere is just an awful lot to deal with.
But none of this is the fault of the Microbus. I think South Africa really liked these T3 buses, since they seemed to have more versions of these than almost anyone. They were also the only place to officially badge the Type 2 as a “Microbus,” which was more of a marketing/informal name and I don’t think appeared on an actual badge in any other market.
It’s also worth remembering just what marvels of packaging these things were; they weren’t particularly large on the outside, but you could cram 15 people in these things! Sure, sitting four across on those benches isn’t really roomy, but it’s absolutely do-able.
There’s also the embracing of engine options for the Type 2; while we got the Wasserboxer motor here in the US, I think it was far more popular in South Africa. These aren’t exactly well or fondly remembered, but they were interesting engines. They’re one of the few examples of an air-cooled design adapted to water-cooling, which is at the root of the issues they had.
The cylinder heads were water-cooled, and the old finned cylinder jugs were replaced with water-jacketed cylinders. There were also miles of plumbing to move that coolant from the rear engine to the front-mounted radiator, and there were many points of potential leaks and whatnot.
Still, the 2.1-liter version of this engine made 82kW/110 hp, which was a significant power bump for pretty much any Type 2. It’s close to double what the original air-cooled T3s made!
VW South Africa even stuck the 2.6-liter Audi 5-cylinder engine into these, making 135 or so hp and, I believe, being the most cylinders ever stuck into the rear of a VW, at least officially from the factory. The Porsche 914/6’s engine was in the middle, and those were only Porsche-branded, with the VW-Porsche badge just for the four-bangers. VW did get tuning house Oettinger to make a six-cylinder Wasserboxer, but VW themselves never sold those.
But Oettinger stuck some into T3s and sold a few! There’s a video of one right above there. Those seem like fun sleepers!
Hey Torch, on a totally different subject, given your love of taillights, and on the off-chance you see this post, The Autopian should start a column called “taillights I want to punch” because we all have some that truly irritate us to the point of having a stroke and wanting to open a can of whupass.
I’ll start the ball rolling with the slightly older Jeep Renegade and it’s square taillights with a cross in the middle for the indicators. I don’t know why but I find them so ugly and offensive I have to stop myself from ramming them if I am behind one. I don’t carry a hammer with me in the car because I don’t trust myself. Anybody ?
I have owned one of these (1990 1.9 Wasserboxer) for about 7 years now. It has been a great vehicle and totally reliable. I own a T2 (1972 1.6) as well and the T3 is a big upgrade in every way from handling to power. Thoroughly enjoy owning and driving my T3 🙂
I was just at AfrikaBurn in South Africa. One of the fun things I do is volunteer at the “Grease Monkeys.” A group of mechanically minded folk. Mostly fix bicycles, but do generators, tires (lots of flats) and the occasional car. What was the only car I had to fix while there. The clever among you guessed, a Vanagon. Not to terribly difficult, coil wire. I have experience with the T3 having owned a Syncro version of that wholly unreliable vehicle. So the gang let me troubleshoot and fix it. It is apparent from the pic that the van is broken down at the side of the road, having rolled into place askew. Rather it’s normal situation.
Nice! This is all I can think of, from
Lethal Weapon 2:
“One man, one vote!…free South Africa, you dumb son of a bitch!”
“And being a VW, it’s naturally very reliable.”
Wow, that takes me back, to a time when that was kind of true.
He’s traveling in a fried out Kombi. On a hippie trail, head full of zombie. That’s all.
That seating diagram made me wonder if this was aimed at the minicab market at first, but I don’t think they would be buying anything new.
After the kids succumb to his siren song, they’re going to be so disappointed there’s not free candy or puppies in there. They might enjoy the magic tricks, though.
He looks a lot like Steve Buscemi from here. That’s unnerving.
I got Willem Dafoe. Much, much more disturbing.
I wonder, what would their kid look like?
Nightmare fuel
A traveling bus-ker?
They’re the worst.
Towing up a mountain with a busload of passengers will be a very slow trek. Those mountain passes will NOT be simple molehills.
The Bus had a long and interesting lifespan, and got progressively better and better looking as the decades went by. The silver example has nice five-spoke wheels and looks good with rectangular headlights.
Fortunately, they are all very slow, because rear-ending the car in front would bring about severe consequences for the driver and front passenger(s).
“Enough Space To Live In”
Down by the river.
That’s Varknaaler Van Wyk, lead singer of The Natal Red, a South African Grateful Dead knock-off band.
15 seater, LOL. SO safe.
You think that’s safe, wait until you learn that mini bus taxis would fit 20-30 people in those things lol.
Please no, that’s insane. 0-60… never.
I believe the current record is 48 people:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UdImATbeNY
Granted it’s a HiAce but they took over from VW as vehicle of choice around the mid to late 90’s.
They’re packed in so tight, they become part of the vehicle structural integrity.
LOL, also scary.
It’s essentially a fully grouted cinder block.
Certainly the outer passengers form the crumple zone
You want a pandemic? This is how you get a pandemic.
God, I remember watching those VolksieBus adverts in the 80’s and 90’s. David Kramer’s character was a regular feature lol.
IIRC he’s wearing a pair of Vellies (Veldskoene, traditional shoe in SA based on shoes Khoisan – a South African aboriginal people – wore when the first Dutch settlers landed in the Cape and which the settlers started using) and you can get modern versions from a few companies. My favourite is Veldskoen and here is their red version: https://www.veldskoen.com/products/pinotage-red-veldskoen-heritage
God I love the Internet. 20 minutes in and I know right where to go for the most obscure shoes.
They’re comfortable as F. Not great for winter as they’re not insulated but brilliant for hot weather.
Good arch support?
Decent enough to be able to wear them all day.
That first photo is hilarious. I can see Jack Hind from The Gods Must Be Crazy leaving the driver’s seat of his tour bus to mix a drink and launching the VW and this young version of the Mayhem guy from the Allstate commercials right across the Kalahari.
The Prophecy of The Bright and Shiny
Cultwants you!That guy is for sure gonna start singing Wonderwall, and I might slow down before kicking him out the door.
Have you seen Killing Eve? That guy is definitely a Villanelle sort of assassin.
I bet that guitar is really a gun, or at least has concealed blades.
That’s the reason for the red shoes.
El Mariachi in red chaps?
Are you a matador by day and a troubador by night? Have you inexplicably landed in the middle of a South African road? This is your van.
FINALLY! A vehicle for me!
I’m sure that guy has totally never murdered anyone in that van.
Of course not, that’s a really nice van!
Outside of the van, now that’s another story.
That’s why he’s wearing his red pants.
Smart murderers buy vans without windows.