Vans are beloved by enthusiasts the world over, but nobody builds them quite like the Europeans. In addition to hosting some of the greatest automakers in the world, the continent also features a grand number of talented coachbuilders to boot. It’s that proud tradition that gives us the beautiful example seen here.
Meet the Microstar Multimax. What you’re looking at is a Volkswagen T4 that has been wholly transformed into something more exceptional. It’s like a Popemobile, with its panoramic glass roof, except it’s a van. So you could fit like, ten popes in there! You’d just hope they all got along.
This fine vehicle is the creation of Auwärter, but not the current company that’s in the business of building trailers. We’re actually talking about Ernst Auwärter, a coachbuilding company that made quite the name for itself in Germany during over a century of production.
Seen my my brother on Facebook.
What is it?
WHY is it?… pic.twitter.com/cGNQIJpvlr
— Pete Breakwell (@BigBreakers) July 10, 2024
Details on the Microstar Multimax are hard to come by. These were built in some quantity in the late 1990s, before the Internet was all-pervading. They were primarily sold to the European market, with few to no English language materials available.
Notably, beyond the panoramic canopy, the Multimax has one other curious feature. It’s the sliding doors in the middle of the body. Indeed, these are the only doors to the vehicle. Thus, for the driver, ingress and egress is not particularly elegant. They must walk all the way to the middle of the vehicle to get out. Of course, for use as a bus or shuttle, this isn’t such a problem.
Oh, and did I forget to mention? Apparently some of these have six wheels! I only wish I could show you right now. You can spot a glorious German example here, or scroll below for the good stuff. The biggest examples seated up to 23 passengers!
These workhorses did duty all over Europe. Eager busheads (that’s bus-heads, I’m not sure if there’s an equivalent term to “gunzel” for train fanatics) have taken photos of them out in the wild over the years. They pop up in Poland, serving as airport shuttles, while in Latvia, they’ve driven regular neighborhood bus routes. It’s hard to say what this one is doing in Estonia, but it looks great.
As for the manufacturer, the Ernst Auwärter story goes all the way back to 1854. The company began as a humble workshop, producing wagons and other machinery for farmers.
The company later branched out into buses in 1928. It began building on chassis from Daimler-Benz, Opel, and Ford, later working with other manufacturers, like Volkswagen. The company built a wide variety of designs over the years, from small shuttles and vans to full-size municipal buses. It had a particular penchant for builds with wide, expansive glasshouses.
Indeed, our own Jason Torchinsky has come across this company’s fine works before. Namely, in the form of the Auwärter Carlux from the late 1960s. Just peep that glorious glasshouse!
The company prospered through much of the 20th century, but that success wasn’t to last. The company faced declining profitability in the early 2000s and became insolvent in 2005. Its assets were taken over by Pucher GmbH & Co. KG, but that business in turn went bankrupt in 2013. The story was over.
Don’t cry, though, because these vehicles are still out there doing great things. Namely in Romania, where you can rent one as a glorious party bus!
Operated by a business called “Limo Party Non Stop,” the Microstar is in great condition despite its age. It looks sharp in white with a plus red interior and looks like a particularly swanky way to rock up to a function.
Heck, use it for a wedding! The wide double doors have ample space to clear a giant dress, and the color palette is on point.
Ultimately, the world deserves more big vans with beautiful panoramic glass and futuristic dustbuster-like designs. Auwärter gave us that in the 1990s, and I have to question why nobody else is delivering today. These vans are beautiful, and ought to be celebrated long into the future.
Image credits: Limo Party Non-Stop, Auwärter
Buy one of the 6 wheelers, give it to Ms Mercedes to create the Autopian RV!
These look pretty damn cool, but I certainly hope they have working AC.
Is there a connection between Ernst Auwarter and Gottlob Auwarter? Gottlob’s bus company would be known to Americans for an operation spun off as Neoplan USA. Thousands of Neoplan-branded buses were produced in a plant in Lamar Colorado, also briefly in Honey Brook Pennsylvania and Brownsville Texas, between 1982 and 2006. Most of these were transit buses, but they also built coaches such as the double deck Skyliner.
Looks like a perfect mobile brothel for voyeurs.
Looks like a mobile Easy-Bake Oven.
You wouldn’t even need the magic incandescent light bulb to make it work!
As a VWgeek, I must have this
For some reason my mind immediately went to an image of the Jurassic Park T-rex – definitely a bit more exposed than the old Ford Explorer, but the punters would get a great view of the brachiosaurs.
I recall Torch’s post about the older versions of these bubblehead buses from ye auld site. The newer versions aren’t half bad, though lacking the charm of the originals.
The curved glass transitioning between the walls and ceiling are what gives the charm lacking in later versions.