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Volkswagen Celebrates 60 Years of the Transporter Van in the UK

Aside from the Volkswagen Beetle, the Volkswagen Type 2 is possibly one of the world’s most recognizable vehicles, but whether you knew it or not, this van owes its existence to the United Kingdom. To recognize this, as well as the 60th anniversary of this van going on sale in the U.K., VW’s U.K. team is celebrating the van’s diamond jubilee with a look back at the history and an amazing gallery of archived images.
Volkswagen Transporter T1 and T5 19 photos
Photo: VW
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As VW tells it, the idea for the original Type 2 was thought up by a British army officer, Major Ivan Hirst, who wanted a flat-bed truck based on the Beetle’s platform. The Type 2 went on to become a production van/truck in 1950, but it wasn’t until 1954 that it went on sale in the U.K.

It’s pretty remarkable to look back at the history of the Type 2 – which VW later retroactively renamed the Transporter – that still has roots in the current minivan landscape for VW. Since its introduction, VW says that 11.5 million units have been sold worldwide, and as a testament to their versatility, the last of the Type 2 (T2) Kombis rolled off the assembly line in Brazil last year.

Be sure to check out the gallery of images and the video below, which both do a pretty cool job of showing the evolution of the Transporter over its five generations.

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press release
 

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