Written by Brent vd Schyff

We all have a microbus story. It’s a car that you just can’t help but admire with great fondness. Not quite Ferrari F40 fondness but, no doubt, it’s got a specific uniqueness gets it firmly in the halls of motoring fame even if it did roll in at a snail's pace.

The microbus dates back to 1950 and was the second type of car to be produced by Volkswagen after the beetle. Stripping down the German brand's name, ‘Volk’ translates into 'people' and the more people you’ll be able to fit into a car, the more fun you’ll have. Not quite a linear equation but you get the gist and VW played to that narrative well. It’s commercial intentions spanning roles further than just your humble compact people carrier, it saw other roles of servitude from being goods transporters to ambulances and pick-up trucks to ice-cream vans. You know the one with the blaring, drowned-out racket that would attract every kid on the block who, in turn, would raid the pockets of unsuspecting parents in exchange for a chocolate and vanilla soft-serve with that all-important flake in the centre. Ah...the memories.

As kids, we'd fight over the back seats. It was your orbit and seemed like light years away from the front seats the adults would inhabit. That type of magical memory doesn’t fade. It is the ultimate family holiday vehicle. Was that one of the secrets to the popularity unlocked? It is, after all, a people congregator, an evangelist for good times with family & friends and a budding catalyst for memory building (Even more so when it broke).

Those excursions to the beach, those West Coast road trips in the Spring or those East coast mid-year vacations to destinations you can’t pronounce that inevitably contained a monopoly game gone wrong, soured by adolescent corruption and multiple vicious games of Uno. Pick up 14.

The lifelong memories that get burnt into the retina compel us to want to share and build new memories with the next generation. Clocking vast landscape on repeat, we recall views come in on the regular, much like a cinematic film role of yesteryear. That iconic 360-degree view, soaking up the very best any vista has to offer. All this at slower speeds heaving around such tonnage. Let's face it that when you’re on a bus like this, time is irrelevant. You're going nowhere fast. But that's the point. Whether it be the rolling hills of KwaZulu-Natal or traversing through the green abundance of the Transkei, the large ratio of glass to panel lends itself well to appreciate surroundings, even in the modern iteration of the bus. Eyes on the road, Mr. driver.

Perhaps even you’re a bit of soloist and don’t take that the wrong way. We’ve all romanced about the kitting out a van and going an epic road trip. With no real destination. That ‘van’ life. The bus would do that just fine too.

In the end, the nostalgia and memories built around the adventures created is anything but a byproduct VW achieved, whether intentionally or not and that feeling you get when you look at one? My friend that is an undiluted appreciation for something that creates stories about a journey, the VW microbus.