Vehicle Description
1976 Volkswagen Type 2 Kombi Bus
Kombi comes from the German word Kombinationskraftwagen which means
"combination motor vehicle". If you remove the rear seats, you can
combine the passenger van with a cargo van. By those terms and with
fold down seats, most modern minivans could be considered
"combination vans" and it all started in 1949 with VW's van
concept.
For consignment, one iteration of the Type 2 Kombi, a 1976 seven
passenger Kombi bus in beautifully restored condition. When we
asked the consignor which roads were taken to get to the mall, we
expected to hear about the scenic backroads. The response was the
Pennsylvania Turnpike. For those of you unfamiliar, that's our
interstate highway! Not bad for a 48 year old VW. As we'll learn,
everything works on this van and the engine was replaced about
9,400 hundred miles ago.
Exterior
Wonderfully bright Kasan Red coats the bottom half of the van and
is offset by the Blizzard White upper. The consignor states it was
painted just two years ago. The white is repeated on the bumpers
and the wheels and creates a striking van in retro style. Three
colorful stripes encircle the van, and they are painted, not tape
or decal, adding a cheerful detail to an already cheerful bus. The
headlight bezels and door handles are shiny chrome, and the dog
dish hubcaps look great. The Empi roof rack provides room for more
luggage but more likely serves as an aesthetic bonus, and it looks
cool! Looks like our attempt to spiff the car missed some leaf
debris in the rain rails, they are not rusted! Other things of note
include a touched up scratch on a door, some bubbling on the rocker
panel, and some rust that's been encapsulated by paint on those
panels as well.
Interior
Black vinyl door panels greet us upon opening the van and they
contain the ingenious integrated heat vent that doubles as an
armrest. The front bucket seats are also black vinyl with
basketweave texturing and tall headrests in excellent shape. The
two benches in the back are covered in the same black vinyl and
look barely used. We note some delaminating of the white perforated
vinyl that surrounds the windows in back but it's all there and
seems like an easy fix. Consignor notes each seat has seat belts,
not something you commonly find on the vans. The vinyl covered side
panelsare in fine condition with the exception of the rear hatch,
where it is starting to separate from the backing. The perforated
headliner, per our consignor, is new and looks great. Up front, we
have the standard two spoke black plastic steering wheel followed
by a simple but efficient dash with gauges housed in plastic bezel.
An AM/FM radio is in the center surrounded in textured plastic
where we note one small crack. The floor is covered with a
utilitarian rubber mat and the shifter rises tall from the
floor.DrivetrainA 2.0 liter four cylinder engine was installed in
the van about 9,400 miles ago and as noted earlier, runs well
enough for highway use. It's fueled by the Bosch L-Jetronic
injection and tied to a 4-speed manual transaxle that keeps power
in the back via 4.02 gears. Front disc brakes are coupled with rear
drum brakes to slow things down on the offramp. Visually, the rear
mounted engine is essentially driver quality with no visible leaks
or missing parts.
Undercarriage
This is often where things can go south be we're happy to report
it's relatively clean and dry and driver quality underneath.
There's certainly some surface rust present and some of it has been
encapsulated, but no invasive rust or structural issues. Wunderbar!
There's a bit of grease built up by the wheels but not unexpected
for a driver. The exhaust flows a short distance to a stock style
muffler that hangs below the rear bumper. Independent torsion arm
suspension makes up the front while transverse torsion bars are out
back. The heater channel under the van is in good condition.
Drive-Ability
Already impressed with the van's trip to the mall, we roll onto the
test loop just to confirm the consignor's claim that everything
works. The blinkers, lights, radio, heat and all the rest do indeed
function and in our experience with Kombi's, that's a fantastic
bonus. With 70 horsepower, Kombis are notoriously underpowered but
there's no rush in this fine running bus. Pulling back into the
garage we confirm the brakes work as they should.
Here's a 1976 Kombi in a bright and cheerful color that runs well
and has a complete and clean interior. Essentially, it needs
nothing other than a new owner. We even note that there are no
Peace or Grateful Dead decals, so you can leave it clean as is, or
dress it up to your musical tastes. Be cool, but don't chill too
long because we expect the interest in VW vans to find its way to
the mall.
Classic Auto Mall is home to more than 1,000 classic and
collectible vehicles for sale via consignment in a climate
controlled 336,000-square foot showroom (that's more than 8
acres!). The largest single location consignment dealer of classic
and collectible vehicles in the country is located in Morgantown,
Pennsylvania, just 1-hour west of Philadelphia off Exit 298 of the
I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. For more information visit
www.classicautomall.com or call us at (888) 227-0914. Contact us
anytime for more information or to come see the vehicle in
person.
With so many great cars, you know we have a lot to talk about, and
we do that each week on the Classic Auto Mall Podcast with host
Stewart Howden. Stewart discusses new inventory as well as trends
in consignments and car prices, while interviewing celebrities and
automotive professionals about amazing cars and their history. Tune
in each week to the Classic Auto Mall Podcast wherever you enjoy
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