Also a Transporter/Kombi/Microbus

[MrPolak]

I'd like to start a thread that highlights models of vehicles which were not only contemporary to the Splitty but also shared the utilitarian cab-over design and were similar in size. We generally take for granted that at the time the VW Microbus was built there were quite a few vehicles designed to fill the market that VW shared. Found largely in Europe these vehicles were the workhorses buzzing about cities, delivering goods to mom-and-pop stores of the day.

I hope this information is found useful in completing the era of automotive history that our Split bus (Wagon as per VW adverts of the day) helped to define.

In order of manufacture:

0. VW Type 2: 1950 - 1967
1. Gutbrod Atlas: 1950 - 1954
2. Morris J2 - 1952 - 1967






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Up first, a lesser known Morris J2: "The Morris Commercial J2 was a small, forward-control van (driver's cab on top of the engine) launched by Morris Commercial in 1956 and produced until 1967. It was offered with the familiar B-series petrol engine, initially in 1,489 cc (90.9 cu in) form, but this was subsequently enlarged to 1,622 cc (99.0 cu in)."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Commercial_J2

[/list]

[mandraks]

not sure if this is the right section, but i like it, i will be watching

first one should have been the Ford FK1000, though
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Uli

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'53 3-Fold Oval, L35 Metallic Blue, looking for a narrow hatch panel

[MrPolak]

[flemcadiddlehopper]

Hmmmm....not sure about this one. perhaps falls in the other vehicles area, yet it's even non-vw or even porsche.....so like just, umm, other.

Does anyone ever lower these things, or air bag them and put in bigger performance engines and sh*t, and paint them with wicked metal flake flames?

Gordo.
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Retrograde Garage. Vintage Aircooled, and others.

[EverettB]

It's fine right now, let's see what happens.

I know there are some brochures out there that do comparisons of the VW Bus against other makes and models at the time.
These might be interesting to see as well.

A few I have on the site:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/lit/1951transportercomparison.php
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/lit/1961vwtruckcomparison.php
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/lit/1962_bus_comparison.php
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/lit/1962_truck_comparison.php
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[notchboy]

That pesky Bugaboo engine up front.

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[MrPolak]

The Gutbrod Atlas was a light panel van or pickup truck.Its regular production started with the year 1950 in Calw, Germany by Calw division of Gutbrod Motorenbau G.m.b.H. The maximum freight was per variant 700, 800 or 1000 kg. Top speed was 70 km/h (44 mph) with a two-stroke fuel consumption of 9.8 l/100 km (24 mpg) of oil/gasoline ratio of 1:25. It had a 27 Liter tank (7,1 gallon).


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutbrod_Atlas

[MrPolak]

Ford Taunus Transit (1953 - 1965)

The predecessor of the British and German-built Transit, the first Ford to wear the "Transit" badge was a van built in Ford's Cologne plant in Germany. It was introduced in 1953 as FK 1000 (carrying 1,000 kg) with a 1.2-litre inline-four engine from the contemporary Taunus. In 1955, the engine capacity was enlarged to 1.5 liters. Since 1961, this vehicle has been called the Ford Taunus Transit. Production of this model ceased in 1965.

[Ollie W]

I was at the same museum, geeking out on the Atlas. Here's as good a pic as I could get of the interior.

[MrPolak]

Matador, (1949 - 1953)

At about the same time Volkswagen started offering the 0.75-ton VW T1, a direct competitor of Matador. The first Matador from 1949 (whose front end has been compared to a boxer's face) was powered by a 25-horsepower VW industrial engine sourced directly from Volkswagen. As Tempo failed to secure a long-term supply contract with the managing director Heinz Nordhoff, Volkswagen stopped the delivery of this engine at short notice in 1952. Thereafter, the Matador was fitted with either a two-stroke-engine of 672 cc or a four-stroke-engine (1092 cc, 34 hp), both of which came from the engineering office of Müller in Andernach.

[favguy]

The UK had the Commer FC from 1960 to 1983. (1976 to 1983 it was sold as the Dodge SpaceVan).

Like the VW, it was available as a panel van, microbus and camper variant.

Frontally it was very VW T2 bay like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdcACXE54Hg

[BarryL]

[mandraks]

[MrPolak]