Wolksvagen T1 Split

Volkswagen Split T1

In the spring of 1947, Ben Pon, the Dutch importer of Volkswagen, visiting the Wolfsburg factory, saw a curious trailer based on the Beetle, designed to transport heavy materials from one department of the factory to another. This “vision” gave him the idea of ​​proposing the production of a commercial vehicle to the company. Shortly thereafter, he sketched a sketch on a notebook to submit to Nordhoff (the then number one at Volkswagen). From that sketch, based on the Beetle (the only mechanical version produced by the company at the time), the Typ 2 project was born, which culminated, on November 12, 1949, in the Transporter Typ 2. Today, to better distinguish it from later models, it is also called the Split, a contraction of Splitscreen, to identify the characteristic windshield divided into two panes.

Due to some design problems (the platform chassis needed to be reinforced to allow for adequate transport capacity and satisfactory torsional rigidity), deliveries of the Transporter only began in March 1950. Originally equipped with the same 1131 cm³, 25 hp, air-cooled, four-cylinder boxer engine, it followed all the technical evolutions of the Beetle (including displacement variations to 1192, 1285, and 1493 cm³). It was an immediate success, thanks to the robustness, simplicity, and versatility of the Transporter T1 (which German-speaking users began affectionately calling “bullies”). The vehicle became a generational legend when the Samba (two-tone with a sunroof and oval windows on the roof) and Westfalia (camper) versions, launched between the late 1950s and early 1960s, became the ideal means of transport for hippies and flower children, both in Europe and on the West Coast of California. The T1 was produced until 1967 in almost 1,800,000 units.

Today, to better distinguish it from subsequent models, it is also called Split, a contraction of Splitscreen, to identify the characteristic windscreen divided into two panes.

Details

1192 cc

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