vagabondblogger: Funkengroovin Wednesday

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Funkengroovin Wednesday - Bulli For You

(Green and white VW Van on the Corniche, Cairo, Egypt.)

(White banged up VW Bus, spotted somewhere in Maadi, Cairo, Egypt.)

(Blue VW school van on the roundabout in Maadi, Cairo, Egypt. Rusty roof. Ramadan traffic is such a mess, Vagabondblogger can actually catch a few cars before they totally zip by her.)

Is Vagabondblogger the only one here disappointed about not being able to go to the Bulli Anniversary bash in Hanover, Germany? (And, then heading south for some Oktoberfest fun?)

Vagabondblogger is in such a slough of despond that she (for once) can't possibly write up a proper blog commemorating the Bulli.

Sniff, sniff - boo, hooooo!

History Lessons available here:

Wikipedia,Volkswagen Type 2

Wikipedia lists all T Types, plus references to them on television, in movies, and music references too.

Thousands Gather To Salute the VW Bus

Sixty thousand people converged in Hanover over the weekend to celebrate the 60th birthday of the Volkswagen Bus. On view were over 5,000 examples of the vehicle that would change the way people used -- and experienced -- the road.

It has been the preferred vehicle for postal workers, policemen, camping enthusiasts and, of course, members of the "Flower Power" generation. Over the weekend, 60,000 people came to Hanover for a three-day festival saluting 60 years of the vehicle that revolutionized the world.

Saturday saw thousands gather on the festival grounds visiting over 30 stands and making the rounds to admire the vehicle in all its permutations. That evening saw 44,000 gather for a performance by the British rock band, The Who.

The vehicle's original name was the T2, short for Type 2. Type 1 was Volkswagen's so-called "Beetle." In 1947, Dutch auto importer Ben Pon visited a VW production facility in Wolfsburg and saw Beetle chasses being used to transport heavier objects. His sketches for a bus prototype would come to life three years later when the first buses rolled off the production line: they had 25 horsepower, could reach a top speed of 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour and cost 5,850 deutsche marks.

The German name for the bus was "Bulli," short for "Bus und Lieferwagen" (bus and delivery vehicle). Other names include the "Transporter" and "Kombi," short for Kombinationskraftwagen, or "combined-use vehicle."
While the van-like version of the vehicle is perhaps best-known, numerous versions have existed. The first camping version appeared in 1951.

The Who set to rock...the VW Bus exhibition

Singer Pete Townshend, who owns a VW bus and who spent much of the band's early years in one, said: "We look forward to being part of a real cult event that is right up our alley, and we intend to rock Hanover."

Speaking of the decade that produced both his band and the bus, Townshend added: "The Volkswagen Bus was the only true choice at the time, and everyone loved it.

"It was a mobile hippy home, cult on wheels, and today, still, the Multivan is a great automobile."

Townshend explains: "That's exactly what the song "Going Mobile" is about: 'Well I'm gonna find a home on wheels, see how it feels, / Goin' mobile/ Keep me moving/ I can pull up by the curb, /I can make it on the road, /Goin' mobile, /I can stop in any street/ And talk with people that we meet'.

More photos available on main page (see photo below.)

From autoblog.com (Check out the photo on the main site.)
Bus a Move: Abt T5 Sport Plus package for VW Multivan

To celebrate the 60th birthday of the VW Bus, Abt Sportsline has worked some of its black magic on the T5 Multivan's TDI powerplants. The Abt-enhanced 1.9 TDI produces either 110 or 130 horses, while the tuned 2.5 TDI offers up either 160 or 195 HP. Torque increases by an unspecified amount in all applications as well. To complete the package, Abt recommends you add its upgraded springs, new wheel/tire combo, full body kit, and sport muffler. Euro buyers who want to blow out the candles and salute the 60 years of the Bus in style can begin doing so on December 31.

Even though Vagabondblogger is inconsolable, The Boss Man will be delighted! Vagabondblogger can hear it now, "Jaa, Freuleinwunder . . . . . I'd like to have her warm up stick shift . . . . I might even lick the points on her distributor . . . . "
(Heidi's up a tree. We have cats here that do that sort of thing when they're "in season." Vagabondblogger suspects that Heidi's always in season.)

Heidi Klum, Seal Take on Role as New Volkswagen Brand Ambassadors

An analysis revealed that Heidi Klum and our brand are an ideal fit. She is authentic, radiates a zest for life and Volkswagen buyers are able to identify with her. Heidi Klum is probably the most famous German personality in the US, with twelve appearances on the Jay Leno Show and her own successful television show which has won her three Emmy nominations. She has positive credentials all round and has the reputation of being the typical German “Fräuleinwunder”. This is the reason why Volkswagen wants to intensify their work with them in the US.

It’s actually Heidi Klum, though, whose relationship with Volkswagen cars goes back much further. Even as a little girl, Heidi rode around town with her dad in a VW Bus. “Some years later, we went on holiday in a Beetle convertible,” Klum laughed. “We still have it today. It has a really unique colour: amber gold.“ She herself, says Klum, adores the successor to the Beetle, the New Beetle, adding that she has a hardtop and a convertible version of the car parked in her garage in LA. These days, however, the family is so large that they actually only travel in the T5 Bus.

N3 Bulli Treffen Hannover 2007 (Even though Vagabondblogger knows a teeny bit of German, she's sure she heard, "Bulli overkill" in this video. Nein! Nein! Nein!)