I'm going to tell you something that is genuinely frustrating for me. There's a country, it's called Brazil, besides being known for the Amazon, Carnival, and Samba music; it's known as being the last country in the world where you can buy a brand new Volkswagen T2 Bus. This isn't the "Eurovan" that VW would like you to believe is the modern day reincarnation of the T2, it's the real thing, called the Volkswagen Kombi. The same thing you could buy in the 60's in the USA is still being sold in Brazil. The frustrating part? I can’t get my paws on one.
Over the course of 40 years, a few changes have been made, the air-cooled flat four has gone the way of the do-do bird. Replaced by a modern 1.4 liter inline four cylinder, liquid cooled. I'd look at that as an improvement regardless of what purists would say. 80 horsepower without having to worry about overheating is a plus in my book. You’ll notice what you think to be a spare tire mounted to the front of the Bus. You would be mistaken if that is what you thought it was, it is in fact a cover for the radiator of the liquid cooled engine, and a air filter, quite clever, right?
People of Europe, you’re in luck. People of America, once again, you’re not. The bus is being imported to Holland once again. This means anyone in the European Union can buy a time machine to the 60’s, while not having to worry about driving a 40-50 year old vehicle. The vehicles make it into Europe by way of a series of complex laws, they’re briefly registered in the United Kingdom, then sold in Holland as a “used” vehicle with zero kilometers on them. Imported as a plain white utility vehicle, a UK based company takes the “Kombi” and does some esthetic changes. The company, Danbury Vans, can turn it into anything you’d like, they’re given retro paint schemes, camper conversions, anything you could imagine.
It looks like several of the vans are destined for rental agencies that specialize in vintage VW bus rentals, at least maybe now, we’ll have a chance to take that 60’s road trip we’ve always wanted to do.
