Long before it became a symbol of surfers, hippies and road-tripping free spirits, the Volkswagen bus began as a practical idea sketched by a Dutch businessman.

In 1949, Ben Pon, the man credited with helping bring the Volkswagen Beetle to American roads, visited a VW factory and noticed the small, rear-engine utility trucks workers used to haul parts around the plant. Known as plattenwagens, the vehicles were plain, efficient and easy to maneuver.

Pon saw potential. Inspired by the factory trucks, he sketched a boxy vehicle that, to some people, resembled an oversized loaf of bread. But Volkswagen executives loved it, and before long, they green-lit what would become one of the most recognizable vehicles in the world: the VW microbus.

The first bus rolled off the production line in 1950. Officially called the Type 2 Transporter (the Beetle was the Type 1) it used the same low-powered, air-cooled rear engine as VW’s famous little car.

In many ways, the Type 2 became the first minivan.

Its cab-over design placed the driver above the front wheels, creating a wide view of the road and leaving plenty of room behind the front seat for passengers, camping gear or cargo. To many car enthusiasts, the Type 2 served as a counterpoint to the bulky, chrome-laden, gas-slurping American autos of the time.

Its interior was just as simple. Rubber mats covered the floors instead of carpeting, and before air conditioning became common, passengers appreciated the many windows that opened around the vehicle.

The microbus was first marketed to families, campers and small businesses, but surfers quickly claimed it as their own. It was an ideal board hauler and a more affordable alternative to a woodie station wagon or delivery van.

When the surfing craze faded, the counterculture moved in.

“The hippie movement fell in love with the bus for a few reasons,” classic car expert McKeel Hagerty told Popular Mechanics magazine. “It was cheap to maintain, easy to work on and big enough to live in.”

The main complaint was speed—or the lack of it. Early models had a modest 25-horsepower engine, making mountain climbs and steep hills a challenge. Volkswagen eventually increased the rating to 40 horsepower, but the bus remained slow by many drivers’ standards.

Still, speed was never really the point.

“The bus flew in the face of traditional social culture,” Stewart Reed, then chair of transportation design at ArtCenter College of Design in California, told Popular Mechanics. “It was anti-style, anti-success and rebellious in a totally new way.”

In Disney and Pixar’s “Cars,” the character Fillmore—voiced by comedian George Carlin—is a well-used but not used-up 1960s VW Type 2. His license plate reads 51237, a nod to Carlin’s birth date: May 12, 1937.

Fillmore’s name also carries a counterculture connection. It comes from San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium, the legendary concert venue associated with many 1960s rock acts.

Thanks in part to “Cars,” Fillmore helped introduce the VW bus to a new generation. Groovy.  

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