Our Vans: Volkswagen T5 Transporter Kombi Sportline
1 August 2014: Transporter meets its ancestors
The Details
| Current mileage | 1022 |
|---|---|
| Claimed economy | 37.2mpg |
| Actual economy | 33.6mpg |
Back in 1954 Britain was celebrating the end of rationing, meaning it was bacon sandwiches all round, Bill Haley and The Comets released Rock Around the Clock and Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four minute mile. On the wireless a new comedy, Hancock's Half Hour was making its debut while unknown author William Golding published his first novel, Lord of the Flies.
Meanwhile at the 1954 World Cup, Germany ran out winners while England went out losing to Uruguay. Some things never change it seems. And at a corner of the Earls Court Commercial Motor Show, between the Albion trucks and the first prototype Routemaster bus, a new van was being launched - the Volkswagen Transporter.
A lot has changed since then (England's World Cup performances aside) but the Transporter name has continued ever since, boasting an even longer history than the ubiquitous Ford Transit which didn't arrive until 1965. The young whippersnapper. And 60 years on the Transporter continues to be one of the most popular vans on sale in the UK. And indeed the world. Over its lifetime more than 11.5 million have been built. Most of which seem to be in Somerset and Cornwall.
Like the Beetle, the Transporter owes its creation to a Yorkshire-born British soldier, Major Ivan Hirst. As part of the REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) he helped lay the foundations for the Volkswagen brand as we know it today. As the son of a REME Major and growing up in what was then West Germany, I know this story very well!
Along with what became the Beetle he also developed a flat-bed truck to move parts around the factor site. Known as the Plattenwagen, the vehicle caught the eye of visiting Dutch importer Ben Pon in the mid-1940s, who proposed the idea of a panel van version. And so the Transporter was born.
Five generations on and the current Transporter T5 is unrecognisable from that original although some things do remain. The ethos of a practical, strong and user-friendly van still continues with the Volkswagen. An all-new Transporter is due next year and promises to move the game on even more, but will no doubt stick true to the same values.
The chance to drive a whole range of classic Volkswagen vans is a rare opportunity and on a sunny day in the Cotswolds there was nowhere else I'd have rather been. The T1 (pictured at the top) was first on my list and proved to be somewhat of an experience. It's fair to say vans were pretty basic in 1954. As the driver you're basically there as ballast. There are few creature comforts, the steering is best described as 'vague' and the brakes need about three days notice to slow you down. That said, it's still huge fun to drive one.
The orange T2 was a very different animal. The progression between the two is remarkable, although this is a later one without the split screen. This 1976 model is a pick-up kombi and has been working its entire life. In fact it was only retired from daily use in 2009 having seen duty at a steel fabrication firm since 1984. It drives superbly well, despite the sloppy gearchange, accompanied by that wonderfully characteristic air cooled engine sound.
However, my highlight of the day came in the form of the T3 Caravelle pictured below. The 1989 model has one owner from new and is simply fantastic. The 2.1-litre engine has 112bhp but feels so much faster while the five-speed manual, with its dog-leg first, clunks beautifully into each gear. It's amazingly quiet too, as the engine is at the back. I could have driven it all day. In fact I wanted to take it home and now my eBay history is littered with used examples as I search for my own...
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