Transporter

I love that movie. And Jason Statham is my favorite "action hero" as he combines all the fabulous kung-fu stuff with an epic dry wit (being English helps) and easily the most likeable mug of the lot. If Jet Li and Bruce Willis had a child, he'd be Jason Statham. But this isn't about Mr. Statham, or even the aforementioned film. No, this is about "Transporter." That's the official name of the famous Volkswagen van. The old hippie buses from back in the day were Type 1 and 2 (T1 and T2 in VW jargon) as those were the years from 1950-1979, with the changeover happening in 1967. The T1 was mostly a Beetle with box around it. The T2 was a little larger with a new chassis and new motor options. The T3 was called the Vanagon in the US and production ran from 1979-1992. It was redesigned but still featured the air-cooled, rear-mounted engine unique to VW. Gradually that motor was phased out and replaced by a more conventional water-cooled one. The T4, or Eurovan, appeared in 1990 and was completely redesigned with a front-mounted, front-wheel drive configuration. It eventually came standard with a six-cylinder water-cooled engine that could put out 139 HP! That may not seem like a lot, but it is positively nuclear compared to, say, a '69 four-banger that putted along at less than half that. The Eurovan was phased out in 2003.The newest VW van, the T5, is not sold in the US. Apparently there is a T6 in the works as well.

 

We recently purchased a 1999 Transporter, specifically a Eurovan camper (Winnebago). It has yet to be adventure-tested, but we are pretty excited about it. We don't know quite what to call it, and every vehicle gets a name and nickname around here. Maybe re-watching The Transporter will inspire me.