Lot details Registration No: VBY182E Chassis No: 277128012 Mot Expiry: Sept 2010
The type 2 VW transporter's shape and ethos stemmed from a factory `hack' which had been built to ferry parts and engineers around the Wolfsburg site. Based on what was effectively a stretched Beetle platform, the type 2 was initially powered by a 1200cc air-cooled flat-four but as the Beetle grew up and matured so too did its larger sibling. The van first became available in 1950, and radically changed the way the public think about commercial vehicles. Compact and easy to drive, it helped kick-start the European economy after WW2, and in addition, provided a visual background without which the hippy summers of the 1960s would be much the poorer. Many commercial variants were built for specific trades, and VW got in on the act themselves too, offering the type 2 with a huge range of different options so the van could be fitted out exactly as required.
This particular left-hand drive example reportedly spent the first thirty years of its life being used as a service ambulance by a hospital in Campobasso, near Napoli. Still sporting a working flashing blue light and Italian sign writing, the VW is said to retain its "original interior throughout including stretcher, wheelchair, attendant chair, buzzer and sliding glass partition". Spared the hard life of an emergency response vehicle, it is believed but not warranted to have covered some 131,400km from new (circa 82,000 miles). Imported to the UK and registered as `VBY 182E' during September 1996, the ambulance has apparently been kept garaged (or stored under a car port) since entering the current family ownership a decade ago. Understood to retain its original 1500cc engine and to have been treated to some restoration work in recent years, this fantastic type 2 would go down a storm at Vanfest or the Goodwood Revival. Riding on correct type steel wheels, it is offered for sale with sundry Italian documentation, UK service history and MOT certificate valid until September 2010.
PLEASE NOTE: The Speedometer cable broke on route to the auction venue.
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