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The Volkswagen Transporter, initially the Type 2, is a range of light commercial vehicles, built as vans, pickups, and cab-and-chassis variants, introduced in 1950 by the German automaker Volkswagen as their second mass-production light motor vehicle series, and inspired by an idea and request from then-Netherlands-VW-importer Ben Pon.

The Volkswagen Transporter, initially the Type 2, is a range of light commercial vehicles, built as vans, pickups, and cab-and-chassis variants, introduced in 1950 by the German automaker Volkswagen as their second mass-production light motor vehicle series, and inspired by an idea and request from then-Netherlands-VW-importer Ben Pon. Known officially (depending on body type) as the Transporter, Kombi or Microbus—or informally as the Volkswagen Station Wagon (US), Bus (also US), Camper (UK) or Bulli (Germany), it was initially given the factory designation 'Type 2', as it followed—and was for decades based on—the original 'Volkswagen' ("People's Car"), which became the VW factory's 'Type 1' after the post-war reboot, and mostly known, in many languages, as the "Beetle". The Volkswagen Transporter has been built in many variants. It may be best known for its panel vans, but it was also built as a small bus or minivan, with choices of up to 23 windows and either hinged or sliding side doors. From the first generation, both regular and crew-cab, as well as long- and short-bed pickups, were made, and multiple firms sprang up to manufacture varying designs of camper vans, based on VW's Transporter models, to this day. For the first 40 years, all VW Type 2 variants were forward control, with a VW-Beetle-derived flat-four engine in the rear, and all riding on the same (initial thirty years—T1 and T2), or similar (T3), 2.40 m (94 in) wheelbase as the Type 1 Beetle. As a result, all forward-control Type 2 pickups were either of standard-cab, long-bed or crew-cab, short-bed configuration, and because of the relatively high bed floor (above the rear, flat engine), most pickups came with drop sides in addition to the tailgate. In 1979, the third-generation Type 2 introduced an all-new, more square and boxy body, and in the 1980s also introduced a raised four-wheel-drive bus variant. From the introduction of the fourth-generation Transporter in 1990, the vehicle layout changed to a more common front-engined one—no longer forward-control—and also changed from rear- to front-wheel drive, with four-wheel–drive remaining optional. From then on, the platform no longer shared technological legacy with the Beetle, and Volkswagen just called them 'Transporter', and no longer 'Type 2'. The new models, though growing a bit in length, got a significantly longer wheelbase that pushed the wheels closer to the truck's corners, noticeably reducing its front and rear overhangs, and extended-wheelbase models were also introduced.

Legacy of the Type 2 As one of the forerunners of the modern cargo and passenger vans, the Type 2 gave rise to forward control competitors in the United States in the 1960s, including the Ford Econoline, the Dodge A100, and the Chevrolet Corvair 95 Corvan—the last adapting the rear-engine configuration of the Corvair car in the same manner in which the VW Type 2 adapted the Type 1's layout. European competition included the 1947–1981 Citroën H Van, the 1959–1980 Renault Estafette (both FF layout), the 1952–1969 semi-forward-control Bedford CA and the 1953–1965 FR layout Ford Transit. Japanese manufacturers also introduced similar vehicles, such as the Nissan Caravan, Toyota LiteAce and Subaru Sambar. Like the Beetle, the van has received numerous nicknames worldwide, including microbus, minibus, and, because of its popularity in the counterculture movement of the 1960s and 1970s, hippie van and hippie bus. Brazil contained the last factory in the world that produced the T2 series of Type 2, which ceased production on 31 December 2013, due to the introduction of more stringent safety regulations in the country. This (after the 2002 termination of its T3 successor in South Africa) marked the end of the era of rear-engine Volkswagens, which originated in 1935 with their Type 1 prototypes.