Nowadays, vans are pretty common and Volkswagen produces some of the bestselling vans out there. However, the creation of a commercial van almost didn’t happen. While Citroen had released a van before Volkswagen, their van did not sell extremely well, keeping other companies from trying to manufacture their own version of Citroen’s failed vehicle.
The original Volkswagen van was created on the same platform as the ultimate cult classic, the original microbus. However, the panel van actually predates the microbus by a few years. The panel van was created when a Dutch Volkswagen importer visited the VW factory in order to buy some Type 1s (The beetle), when he saw a concept known as the Plattenwagen, a makeshift pickup truck-like vehicle. He was so impressed by the concept, that he requested that Volkswagen build a vehicle like it, but with the cargo area covered, as he felt that a vehicle like this would be extremely popular with commercial workers. He was right.
The original T1- generation panel van is one of the best-looking vans of all time. It managed to combine great looks with a practical interior and an economical engine, in order to offer people a way to transport many different things like work equipment, fruits and vegetables, etc. However, one of the best known T1 vans is the Porsche van. The Porsche van was an equipment and people carrier for their Le Mans team for over a decade, a testament to its incredible reliability and longevity.
The original T1 van sold in great numbers, and was succeeded by the T2 in 1967. The Type 2’s production run was ended in 1979, with the new ‘Transporter’ model succeeding the T3 Type 2. The Panel Van may not be the most popular of the Type 2 models, but it certainly helped revolutionise an area of the automotive industry, one that Volkswagen continues to dominate.
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