"I love vans," sounds like a really weird thing to say now. But there were many van enthusiasts in the 1970s, especially in California. And one of the big talking points of that era was the Brubaker Box.
Designed by Curtis Brubaker, this is an original project that looked like nothing else on the road. Futuristic yet simple, it even got to play the role of a sci-fi vehicle - the Roamer on the TV show Ark II.
The Box is a fiberglass body made up of multiple parts that are bonded together. You could paint it whatever way you wanted, and the body was designed to fit over a standard Volkswagen Type 1 chassis. It's only slightly longer than the Beetle, so you couldn't really use it as a family van.
Less than 30 were made, so the impact it had on the industry as a whole is minimal. But the magazines loved it, and it's inspiring car designers to this day.
One of them is Samir Sadikhov, an industry professional who worked on two Genesis concept cars and the Rezvani Tank. We were blown away by his Hummer H1 electric restomod 3D model, and the same excellent skills were applied to this modern Brubaker.
The 21st-century model is allowed to keep all the shapes that made its predecessor iconic, including the single side door, simple bumpers, and a moon rover exterior.
The cabin is still a tight fit but looks altogether more luxurious thanks to an oriental-themed rear bench and front seats that have a striking resemblance to the Eames Lounge, minus the leather upholstery.
And you know what else was built using a VW Beetle chassis? Yeah, that's right, the Buggy. Volkswagen showed a modern version of that last year, based on its MEB electric car platform. You can apparently put any type of body on top of that, so why not the Brubaker Box?
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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