The streets of Oakland and Berkeley share the same variety of obscure cars found in San Francisco, if not more so. The mixture of college professors and students, immigrants from all over the world, and people of diverse political leanings mean you can sell a few of anything there. And that’s how you can see, say, a Lotus Europa, first-generation Mazda 626 coupe, and Subaru DL liftback coupe on the way in to work. While VWs are still relatively mainstream cars, the attrition rate of disposable cars means that many have disappeared from the road. And that brings us to today’s cars.
Posts Tagged ‘type 2’
RustyButTrusty On The Street – Oakland VW Edition
October 18, 2013Last off the Line – 1971 VW Bay Window Bus
September 10, 2013Last night, I stumbled on an article saying that VW Type 2 production, which ended in 1979 in Germany and 1994 in Mexico, is finally being halted in Brazil after 56 total years of production (!!). This will have made it the longest running production model in automotive history. Up to 78hp from the original 28, and with various modernizing touches, you still can’t escape the look and feel of the old bus everyone is used to seeing. Brazilian production is being phased out due to new safety regulations, but that won’t keep VW from charging $35,000 for the last 600 built. Nevermind that kind of nonsense, we can find you one for a tenth of the price, with this 1971 bay window bus in Joplin, MS for $3800.