VOLKSWAGEN CELEBRATES NEARLY 60 YEARS OF THE BULLI
Published at 10.10.2007 in Company news, Heritage
The basic lines of the Volkswagen Bulli, or the Transporter T1 as the first commercial vehicle built by the company was formally designated, were already sketched in 1947 by the Dutch Volkswagen importer Ben Pon, who ordered the first Beetle cars shortly after the production of the car was reinstated in that year.
The production of the T1 vans and combibuses started in 1949; the Sambabus, which as a minibus was used by many coach operators all over Europe during the ‘fifties and ‘sixties, was launched in 1951. One of most impressive vehicles seen during a recently held “Bulli” celebration in Hannover, Germany was this stretched Sambabus limousine, created by a Belgian Bullilover Bob van Heyst.