Like many, I have followed VW’s attempts to revive the Microbus for the better part of two decades now. From the original Microbus concept in 2001 to Jonny Smith being incredibly excited but in that rather chill Jonny Smith way about a camo’d version a few weeks ago. Now, with the ID.Buzz released and also earning loads of praise for its cute shape, range, and cargo space. A remarkable application of MEB platform. Cheers all-around for the revival of the VW Bus.
Except…the VW bus never really died.
I like that the retro fad of the 2000’s never really went away. Like the blocky 80s and the “Aero Round” 90s, it just blended together to inform whatever it is that we’re calling auto styling nowadays (Cyberpunk Dystopia Core?). And the ID. Buzz is a perfect as a cute little slice of retro. And with the ID.4 drivetrain under it, I can see it quickly becoming the to-go vehicle for trendy companies providing services on whichever city centers still allow cars.
However, the bit that I find most amusing about all of this is the firm conviction that yes, this is the successor to the old VW Bus, the return of the sensible, practical VW transporter that we all knew and love. As if we did not have the actual successor to the old VW bus doing reliable, unassuming service for hundreds of thousands already, exactly like its ancestors have done since Ben Pon had the idea of using a Type 1 floor pan for something altogether more practical.
Entirely aside from the fact that the Type 2 was still built in Latin America until 2013 or that the actual end of the T1’s “DNA” came in 2002 when the last wasserboxer Vanagon rolled off the assembly line, the reason that line came to an end was the thing that makes the transporter so desirable, pragmatism in service of the final customers. So the T4 had more usable space, was safer, and enjoyed easier servicing, and all they had to do was move the entire drivetrain to a position where it wouldn’t interfere. And from that point on it has been a matter of evolution for the bread-and-butter model of the VW Commercial Vehicles empire. Sure, you can no longer fit a Porsche/Subaru engine into one quite so easily. But ABT will happily give you more power for your wagen if you’re so inclined.
So, where does that leave the ID. Buzz? Well, as the next step of the same pragmatic ethos, actually. Things like the ABT e-Transporter 6.1 are now the compromise, taking a vehicle designed to take a 2.0-liter diesel up front and (smartly) hacking it together to make something that works despite its compromises, not aided by the new technology. The ID. Buzz, with its ground-up EV design and rear motor as default simply because it’s the correct place to put it now that we don’t need driveshafts to intrude in the cargo area, it shows what the future cargo van will be when completely untethered from the ICE paradigm. That VW’s marketing can take this and their revolutionary history to make something as prosaic as a mini-van (or minivan for the passenger version) as desirable as they have is completely incidental.
That it’s absolutely adorable to look at is also completely incidental.
