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