The Transporter owes its existence to a Dutch visitor to Volkswagen’s factory, Bernardus Pon. In 1947, Pon – an auto importer – sketched a van based on the mule-type vehicles VW used to move items on its factory floors, called Plattenwagens. The sketch wasn’t brought to life – so to speak – until 1949 when the first Kombi came off the line. These cab-forward designs were easy to maneuver in tight European lanes and economical to run, thanks to their small engines. Later, VW noticed that local coachbuilder Binz had altered some Transporters by extending their cabs into the bed and adding a door on the curbside. VW liked the result, and eventually took over production of the double cab itself in 1958. Thanks to the Chicken Tax, imposed in 1964 on European exports of light trucks to the US in retaliation for tariffs on our chicken, the flow of Transporters and similar vehicles to our shores effectively ceased, increasing the rarity value of double cabs in particular, and Transporters in general. Here on craigslist is a 1962 Volkswagen double cab pickup, with an asking price of $38,500, cash only. It runs and drives, and can be fetched from Rancho Cucamonga, California. Thanks to T.J. for this rare tip!
An original 1.2-liter flat-four engine generating about 34 bhp sits in the rear of this VW, festooned with a few new parts and several shabby ones. The carburetor and fuel pump are new and the all-’round drum brakes have been rebuilt. New tires adorn restored wheels. The gearshift is a four-speed manual through a transaxle. If you row hard enough you can get her up to 60 mph.
The interior is austere, with a single VDO gauge, a flat steering wheel ready to punch you in the lungs if you stop suddenly, and a grab handle for the hapless passenger. The split windscreen lasted until 1968. Note the parcel shelf running longitudinally above the radio. Given this VW’s age, the interior could be worse.
Loading a Transporter was a breeze, with its low drop-down gates and flat bed unencumbered by the intrusion of wheel wells. And here’s a fun fact: the 1962 Transporter was just eight inches longer than a 1962 Beetle! Imagine the performance of a Beetle with a half-ton of hay in the back! Our seller notes bumps, bruises, and rust accumulated over the years. No underside photos are supplied, so personal inspection is encouraged. Pricing is aggressive on nice double cabs, running about $50k to $60k. At almost forty grand, there is virtually no scope for spending money on this example before finding yourself underwater. What’s a better price for this one?
Don’t have a good idea on a proper price for this but 38K sure isn’t it.
Looks like a Chevy Corvair van…..just saying. Pass.
A Ford F-150 this ain’t, but these ’50s-60s Transporters in any shape and guise are bringing stupid prices. And you can bet the seller will get what he’s asking.
Is that an 8 track under the parcel shelf?
The bottom half of this has to be a rolling rust bucket given what the rest of it looks like on top and inside. I mean I hope I don’t end up like Fred Flintstone when my poor feet go through the rusted out bottom of this van truck.
The air cleaner bandit strikes again. Naturally, just seeing a bus in Beer City was unusual enough, never anything like this, which, ironically made much more sense than the bus. When I was a teen, late 60s, we went overseas and stopped in Zurich, and these were running all around the airport. They looked so odd to us., where’s the rest of it? 2 fuel filters? Every once in a while, on a rare road trip here, I’ll see an old hippie-type in a VW bus going the other way( with a big line of traffic behind them) and on the return trip, that bus is usually on the side of the road, driver taking the “shoe leather” express. Looking at this and 6 volt, ( do they make 6 volt phone chargers?) I wouldn’t venture too far. What a wonderful way to spend $40 grand,,or 400 trips to the grocery store,,,your choice. 399, 398, oh, oh, better hurry. I always wonder, do people that spend this kind of money on what I consider a useless item, have other bills?
Great vehicle! Been all over europe with my 68, Bordeaux (Atlantic coast France) to Budapest (Hungary), London (GB) to Zürich (Switzerland), Amsterdam (Netherlands) to …. never stranded beside the road – most reliable vehicle ever built
Sure wish my so called friend hadn’t stolen my 59 paneled van. Loved that van. Stolen in 79.
While this one is priced lower than the 23 window van $38K is a bit much for the condition this one appears to be in. $20K would be a much fairer asking price. At least this one runs and drives.