Photo: Volkswagen
Long before turning into today’s major player, Volkswagen experimented, like some of its competitors, with all sorts of rides, such as the so-called Basis-Transporter, which is one of their rarest vehicles ever built.
The development started in the early 1970s, as the gas prices were up and the world needed frugal basic utility vehicles that went easy on the finances. Thus, the Basis-Transporter came out, and its name says it all, basically.
It was a Spartan boxy work truck, with a two-door cabin and a Beetle powertrain. The air-cooled 1.6-liter engine produced up to 50 horsepower and came paired to a four-speed manual transmission. Deemed as “perfect for utilitarian purposes” by Volkswagen, the Basis-Transporter could carry up to 2,205 pounds (1,000 kg) in the bed, and had a maximum speed of 48 mph (77 kph).
Volkswagen estimates to have assembled 6,200 units of the Basis-Transporter. Complete air-cooled vehicles came to life in Mexico from 1975 to 1979. The vehicle was also put together in Germany, and the automaker used to produce knock-down kits too.
The Basis-Transporter was distributed in countries such as Mexico, Turkey, and Pakistan. Thanks to the iconic Beetle that was already a popular global product by the time the workhorse came out, demand for it was “particularly high,” VW notes.
Moreover, it was reliable, affordable, and easy to fix, and it wore different nicknames all of the world. For instance, in Indonesia, where it had a hood borrowed from the VW Bus, it was sold as the ‘Mitra’, which means ‘partner’, whereas in the Philippines, it was known as the ‘Trakbayan’, or ‘country truck’.
VW states that intact examples of the Basis-Transporter are extremely rare today, and “if you see one moving on the streets, you’ve spotted something special.” In fact, they’re so rare that the company has only released a handful of pics that we shared in the image gallery above.
It was a Spartan boxy work truck, with a two-door cabin and a Beetle powertrain. The air-cooled 1.6-liter engine produced up to 50 horsepower and came paired to a four-speed manual transmission. Deemed as “perfect for utilitarian purposes” by Volkswagen, the Basis-Transporter could carry up to 2,205 pounds (1,000 kg) in the bed, and had a maximum speed of 48 mph (77 kph).
Volkswagen estimates to have assembled 6,200 units of the Basis-Transporter. Complete air-cooled vehicles came to life in Mexico from 1975 to 1979. The vehicle was also put together in Germany, and the automaker used to produce knock-down kits too.
The Basis-Transporter was distributed in countries such as Mexico, Turkey, and Pakistan. Thanks to the iconic Beetle that was already a popular global product by the time the workhorse came out, demand for it was “particularly high,” VW notes.
Moreover, it was reliable, affordable, and easy to fix, and it wore different nicknames all of the world. For instance, in Indonesia, where it had a hood borrowed from the VW Bus, it was sold as the ‘Mitra’, which means ‘partner’, whereas in the Philippines, it was known as the ‘Trakbayan’, or ‘country truck’.
VW states that intact examples of the Basis-Transporter are extremely rare today, and “if you see one moving on the streets, you’ve spotted something special.” In fact, they’re so rare that the company has only released a handful of pics that we shared in the image gallery above.
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