Symbol of freedom and limitless trips, the Volkswagen Combi – much appreciated by the hippie generation of the 60s and 70s of the 20th century – is back: the German brand has unveiled an electric version of its legendary van hoping to seduce the new generation. green, and why not fans of historic models. In a video posted online last Wednesday, the manufacturer presented this new vehicle called ID.Buzz, a member of the ID. family, Volkswagen’s flagship electrification range in which the group is investing tens of billions of euros.
“It’s one of the icons of automotive history,” said group boss Herbert Diess. “Volkswagen tried for a long time to revive the minibus, but only electrification made it possible. It’s a great joy for me, “he added. Borrowing the round shapes of the first models that made the glory of the minibus in the 1960s and 1970s, this electric version “embodies the turning point of Volkswagen”, judges Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, expert in the German automotive sector. In addition to the tourism model which “serves the image” of the brand, Volkswagen will present a utility version, a model “particularly important” for “a larger market”, he adds.
The rear-engined van was born from the inspiration of a Dutch importer, Ben Pon. During a 1947 visit to Volkswagen headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, he noticed a vehicle cobbled together by factory workers to load equipment. Seduced, he draws a sketch and ends up convincing the manufacturer who starts mass production in March 1950, thus creating the second model in the young history of the group after the Beetle – which has also become legendary over the years. The chubby van, a symbol of freedom of thought and travel, has had particular success in the United States, where it has established itself in particular thanks to Californian surfers. “Mysterious machine” in which the team of the cartoon Scoubidou moves, omnipresent in the successful American film Little Miss Sunshine, the Combi even had the honors of the cartoon Cars by Pixar, where it is represented as a a car… hippie.
Volkswagen wants to make the myth bear fruit: the Combi, which “contributed to writing the history of the “Flower Power” movement”, becomes “a car for the “Fridays for Future” generation”, “the hippies of the climate crisis”, Judge M. Dudenhöffer. The ID.Buzz “captures the lifestyle” that the Combi represented and “transposes it into the current era”, launched the boss of the German brand, Ralf Brandstätter. It made its first public appearance last Friday in Texas at the South by Southwest festival, with Diess calling the cult model’s return to the United States a “great opportunity for the Volkswagen brand”.
Symbol of freedom and “icon of automotive history”, the Combi is back with an eco-friendly model: Volkswagen unveiled an electric version of its legendary minibus last Wednesday. Photo John MacDougall/AFP and DR
other adventures
It remains to convince fans of old Bulli – the small name of the Combi in German – among whom the electric version of the van is talking. The ID.Buzz “has taken on the V-shape of the T1”, the first model of the famous bus, notes Mélanie Wolf (33), member of a club of enthusiasts in Bavaria. With her companion Tobias Toplak (43 years old), she regularly travels in a 1973 Combi camper version, like for a tour of Norway in 2019. “I’m curious to see how Volkswagen will bridge the big gap between the spirit of the Bulli and the world
hipster,” quips Tobias Toplak. This spirit is above all “the feeling of freedom, independence”, as many values in his eyes undermined by the limited autonomy of electrical technology and dependence on a charging network.
In the absence of official figures from the manufacturer, the autonomy of the ID.Buzz was estimated at nearly 400 km during a test by the German auto club ADAC. “In the most beautiful places, in the middle of nowhere, where you spend a night, there won’t even be a charging station in 20 years! exclaims Roland Gräbner (52), proud owner of four buses, including a 1986 T3 with which “we have already crossed Europe”. The old Combi “is just so flexible”, adds his partner Britta Kellermann, even if she finds the idea of an electric minibus “exciting”. With the ID.Buzz, concludes Hans Toma, aged 62 and owner of a 1978 T2, “the adventures will certainly be different”.
Source: AFP
Symbol of freedom and limitless trips, the Volkswagen Combi – much appreciated by the hippie generation of the 60s and 70s of the 20th century – is back: the German brand has unveiled an electric version of its legendary van hoping to seduce the new generation. green, and why not fans of historic models. In a video posted online…