Just VW Restorers of Classic Volkswagen Vehicles Wrexham 1961 Split Screen Kombi Camper Rear View

If there was one people mover that set the trend for all to follow it was undoubtedly Ben Pon’s microbus. Ben who? Whilst Porsche gets automatic credit the world over for configuring Volkswagen’s Beetle, Ben rarely gets a mention. Strictly speaking, Ben’s idea wasn't a "people mover" at all, more a factory "stuff" mover. However, from the sketches he made in 1947 came the now World famous VW Bus.

Dutchmen Ben Pon operated a VW dealership, it was during a meeting with Major Ivan Hirst, the British soldier recognised as the person who managed to raise a factory out of the rubble left after the allied bombing raids of World War II, that he scribbled a drawing of a box type vehicle based upon Beetle mechanics; steering at the front end powered by the VW air-cooled engine at the rear. Just two years later the van version was alive and appearing in increasing numbers on German roads. In the 1950s the base model "Transporter" lent itself to a number of configurations, ambulances, pick-ups, micro-buses and of course, camper vans.

The early models, often referred to as Split-screens due to their front windscreen design of two pieces of toughened glass set in an aero-dynamic V-angle, are now quite rare. They were built up to 1967 at which time they were replaced with a new model.