Myth Buster Volkswagen Type 2
Debunking the most common old wives’ tales
VOLKSWAGEN TYPE 2 TRANSPORTER
1THEY WON’T OVERHEAT
Volkswagen advertising often boasted that its air-cooled engines wouldn’t freeze or overheat because they didn’t have any coolant or radiators. Well, overheating was certainly possible, and even more so in a Transporter because of the more confined engine bays. Carburettor and distributor issues, the cooling vanes and thermostat not functioning properly (and just generally messing around with the stock system setup) can cause a Type 2 to run too hot, which will ultimately damage the engine. It may be German engineering, but it’s old, mechanical and therefore not infallible. Brazil switched to water cooling for its homegrown Type 2s in 2006.
2IT WAS BANISHED BY CHICKENS
A trade war broke out between West Germany and the USA in 1963, when the Germans placed a high import tax on US frozen poultry and America responded with a 25 per cent tax on German light vans. The Chicken War – yes, it was called that – practically wiped out sales of Type 2 vans and pick-ups across the Atlantic. Fortunately, passenger-carrying versions were exempt. In reality, however, chilly chickens had little to do with it. President Lyndon B Johnson simply wanted support from the United Auto Workers union for his civil rights platform. In return, the UAW wanted something to be done about increasing Volkswagen imports.
3IT’S NOT AERODYNAMIC
The Type 2’s brick-like appearance has given rise to the perception that the Type 2 isn’t terribly aerodynamic. True, they’re not fast, but that’s more down to the small(ish) engines borrowed from the Beetle. The original Transporter was actually designed using a wind tunnel, at a time when it was rare for vehicles to do so. That gently sloping front and V-shaped nose give a drag coefficient of 0.44 Cd. That’s better than the Beetle, Mini or Citroën 2CV (0.48), and only marginally worse than a Lamborghini Countach (0.42). Typical figures for light vans of the era were in excess of 0.60 Cd.