From the New York Times
Not everyone was enraptured with the ungainly "bread loaf," as kinder critics called the early models. The first Microbus was skewered for being a 2,500-pound vehicle with motive power on par with today's riding lawnmowers. The van's size and shape brutally overtaxed the 1,131-cubic-centimeter, 25-horsepower engine, which was limited to a "long-distance maximum speed" of 47 miles an hour, according to the manual. The van porpoised down the road, its wheels tended to fold under in turns and it would all but stop in a headwind.
The versatile rear-engine layout was adapted to many forms including a pickup, a high-roof delivery van, a camper and the Kombi model with removable seats. As a public service vehicle, versions were produced as mail trucks and even ambulances, albeit very slow ones.
The VW bus was both crudely primitive and cleverly innovative.
As Mr. Clark demonstrated, it could be started with a hand crank, like a horseless carriage, until the late 1950's. It was so minimalist that a dashboard was an option. The heater pulled its warm air supply from across the engine, with all the attendant smoke and aroma. Air-conditioning? Surely you jest.
So, it wasn't drugs after all. It was flower bus engine fumes that did the damage.
Posted by: Fred | 10/17/2007 at 03:52 PM