Camped Out

This seems to have been going on for ages.

But it has finally happened.

The last VW Kombi (or original style Camper Van) has rolled off the production line in Brazil.

To mark its demise, VW have produced a fine farewell video called "Last Wishes".

I know it's a bit schmaltzy but it is also quite enjoyable.  I wish I could work out which actress is doing the narration though.  She is obviously British and sounds very familiar.  The official blurb states that the narration is by "the van itself".  Yeah - right.

The video is done from an "I'm about to die" point of view so, to lighten the mood, here is my favourite comedian, Milton Jones, showing us around his VW Camper:

The modern-day equivalent, the VW Transporter is very square - both literally and in the way that the hippies who drove Campers in the 1960's would use the word.  Could VW have not gone down the retro route like they did with the Beetle?  Possibly, they did come up with the Bulli concept a few years back:

Although, that is a bit smaller and a bit more electric.

 

You may wonder how Australian travellers are now going to get around Europe.

 

Well, given the average age of the Campers being used by them today, I think they will just carry on running and running.

 

No worries.  No flowers.

 

Apart from in your hair.

Going Back to Hippier Times

Car & Driver have improved their site recently. They've turned their news section into a Blog, very much like my favourite site, Autoguide.com. They had this story today which tells Americans something that we've known for ages...

...that you can still buy the old-style VW Camper vans here in Europe.In fact, the hippy in this picture looks remarkably like (because it probably is) Tom Ford - ex-of Fifth Gear, and still of Top Gear Magazine, fame. Fifth Gear did an item on this vehicle a few years back.

These vans are still being built in Brazil by Volkswagen. They call it a Kombi and they look a bit different...But it is still basically the same old van from the '60s.

A company here in the UK ship over the Brazilian models (be careful if you type those two words into Google), customise them and sell them on at a premium price.

Everyone is happy apart now from some Americans who feel they are missing out.

Judging by some comments on the Blog, they blame their Government - do we have Republicans and Hippies sharing common ground?

Anyway, to placate any miffed Americans, here's an expensive version that will be on open sale over there: