For all the mythos surrounding the old Volkswagen Type 2 Bus, all the flower children and the hippies smoking out their cabins in a haze of "legal tobacco," they weren't exactly the nicest things in the world to drive. Heck, even driving up a moderately steep hill could be enough to make you throw on your hazard flashers. But what if you want all that timeless classic styling with none of the downsides? What if you actually want to drive fast in an old VW Bus?
Well, if you're a self-professed old-school VW fanatic like John Henns, you rip out its innards and swap them for tried and true American V8 hardware that could make a church pew do zero to 60 in under four seconds without much hardship. This isn't the first Type 2 bus that John's owned; he's made a habit of taking vintage V8s and making them considerably faster than any of their designers could have dreamed of.
In the state this bus sits in today, we get the sense that years of passion, an eye for design, and mechanical prowess went into every nut and bolt of this bus's construction as it sits today. But how does one take the historically anemic classic VW Bus and turn it into something remotely fun to drive? Well, it starts by taking the stock Volkswagen B4 drivetrain and promptly throwing it in a recycling dumpster, hopefully, to be re-used on another VW Bus project at some point in the future.
Once the frame is liberated from the body and replaced with a beefy Art Morrison chassis, work can begin installing a 5.2-liter Ford Aluminator XS crate engine using the same block as a late-model Mustang GT500 in the middle, not in the back as normal.Said engine features a host of goodies like a forged steel crankshaft, H-beam rods from Manley Performance, a Cobra Jet intake, and a 270/270 camshaft for an engine as eager to rev as your right foot allows. T
his 580-horsepower beast of an engine is mated to a Ford 6R80E six-speed automatic gearbox for smoother shifts than you'd ever expect to come out of an old VW Bus, and the whole shebang is paired to an independent rear end out of all things, a fifth-generation Chevy Camaro.
Add on a set of Wilwood six-piston front brakes in the front and four-piston units in the rear, and you have a recipe for what could be the fastest Type 2 Bus we've seen in a long time. The wicked blue interior and exterior, contrasting with its 19-inch HRE alloy wheels, is just the cherry on top. Congrats all around to John Henn and his amazing creation. Check out his interview with HotRod Heaven USA down below if you want to learn more.
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