Celebrating an unlaunch

[greatbear]

Automotive advertising is inescapable. It has been for at least a century. Print, billboards, television, even entire movies and TV series have been thinly disguised advertising vehicles (see what I did there?) for the automobile industry the world over. Some are clever, some are annoying, some are so pompous as to not even show the actual car (looking at you, Infiniti). But all of these ads have one thing in common. They introduce new marques and models. The latest, if not greatest, things. The shiny stuff of dreams and dealer showrooms. Macho truck ads. Those you-have-arrived spots for luxury models. Snow flying off of SUVs. Tire smoke and speed for the sports and muscle cars. You know the drill. Many of those cars and trucks are familiar to lots of people, being made for decades. Honda Accords. Toyota Corollas. Chevy Impalas. Ford F-150s. Sure, some nostalgia creeps in, and the new models pay homage in styling or in resurrected models from their heydays past. Still, it's all meant to get feet into the showrooms and butts in leather trimmed seats. No one would ever advertize an old model, or even yet, spend screen time and print space telling people some vehicle is going to end production, not to be replaced with something new, would they?

Well, if you are Volkswagen, a brand familiar to just about everyone on the planet, and the vehicle is the Type 2, aka Kombi, better known as the Bus stateside, a sight seen on roads the world over for over a half century, an icon of pop culture and counterculture everywhere, sometimes a good run has to come to an end. Rather than silently letting the model die off as the industry is known to do, it is instead a cause for celebration, even if it is bittersweet. Still being produced in Brazil much the same as it had been at the start, the last models rolled off the production like in September, 2013, ending an era of automotive production of a particular model since, well, that other bug-shaped car from VW. This is a sendoff, a goodbye, a farewell, but, oh, what a wonderful sendoff it is. Betcha never got choked up at a car ad before.

I think practically anyone old enough to drive has memories of these quirky buses, even if they never owned one or knew someone with one. Thing is, despite no longer being made, there will be another half century filled with people who will know of the humble Type 2/Kombi/Bus. This touching tribute has stops all over the world, including practically my back yard, in Baltimore. They are still quite plentiful in these parts.

Comments

[ricksf.livejournal.com]

Wow, thanks for sharing this automotive farewell! I suspect I'd have missed it otherwise.

The VW Kombi/Microbus was indeed memorable. The family friend who owned one (this being the 1960s) always seemed to have it full of kids, their own and others like mysister and me. I recall the big windows all around, the white steering wheel, the dashboard with nearly no gauges, and the ability of the little box to turn any trip into a party. Good times.

[tonethbone.livejournal.com]

It seems like VW squeezes the last possible year out of its classics. This one lasted 63 years and the original (and then reborn) Beetle lasted 65 years.

The AD IS unusual for a company, though. I liked it. Thanks for sharing.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

.... and I thought I was immune to vehicle advertising ... Well done, Volkswagen!! To think, I've never given two seconds thought to the Volkswagen bus and now I'm nostalgic for it!! Thanks for sharing this, Phil!!

HUGS!

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

I've personally never had one of my own, but knew a few who did. At least 2 of my sisters had one. My middle sister and her husband had 2 of them, a '72, and a '79. They also had a 62 unrestored Samba bus that needed a thorough restoration, but was complete, and running for a time.

My middle youngest sister had 2, I think a blue one for a short while, and later an orange one (both from the 70's).

My best friend came close to buying an old split window bus many years ago at a used car lot, but never did, and I forget why now. This same friend did end up with a '77 Rabbit a year or so later, this being in the late 80's. If I recall, that bus he considered was a '67.

Anyway, a great send off to a vehicle that has been in production in one form or another up through the second generation body all this time. I don't think the Vanagon ever was as popular as its previous 2 iterations.

May it rest in peace.

BTW, got chocked up a little on this one for sure, and it was nicely done to boot.

[furr-a-bruin.livejournal.com]

I'm sure there are other mentions in pop culture, but the one that comes immediately to mind for me is...

Traveling in a fried-out Kombi
On a hippie trail, head full of zombie....

-- "Down Under" by Men At Work

[dan4behr.livejournal.com]

Loved this!

The neighbors across the street from us in Delaware had a Westfalia camper, about 1966 vintage when I was a pre-teen. Off-white, pop-top, and I distinctly remember the light yellow/white plaid curtains.

The only time I drove one was about 15 years ago. I needed one for an appearance in a video.
Found a '72 belonging to an eccentric chiropractic student. I'm sure they weren't much when they were new, but after having been pretty much beaten for more than a quarter century, I can tell you the brakes were a cause of extreme hair loss.
I had to park the thing on a downhill slope next to a pond. Stopping where we needed it in the shot was bad enough, but trying to hold the thing from rolling into said pond while trying to find reverse on a shifter whose range could be gaged in feet along with a clutch that sank to the floor was, well, terrifying.

I was never more glad to give back a borrowed vehicle!

[fj.livejournal.com]

I was 21, and sitting in the front of one, a crapped out one, a rusted one, being driven through streets of Paris at 2 AM, streets that seemed two inches narrower than the bus itself on approach, by a man who had had at least 4 Cointereau's on the rocks or something, going to or from Parisian leather bars, the back filled with Polish mustachioed men.

Yeah it would take hours to explain.

[fingertrouble.livejournal.com]

That is sad.

I don't think we've seen the end of the Kombi though...it's too useful.