TYPE 2 RESTO IS A VW TEACHING AID

When Volkswagen wanted to break into the lucrative American market, it initially employed Austrian-born European-car specialist Max Hoffman before swiftly setting up its own operation. In 1954, Will van der Kamp and Geoffrey Lange created the dealership, parts and service network. To start with, three service engineers came over from Wolfsburg with two specially equipped Type 2 Kombi vans, to travel around dealerships and train service personnel. Eventually this evolved into a fleet of 14 Schulwagens (far left).

Only one survives, and it has a hazy early history. It is not known what happened to it until it appeared in a classified advertisement in Hot VW magazine in 1980, listed incorrectly as an ambulance. It was bought by Bob Scofield of Ohio, sight unseen, then stored locally. He was hoping to use parts from a rusty VW ambulance that he owned to restore the Schulwagen, but he never got around to it and 42 years later sold it to Brian Mccue in Michigan.

When VW enthusiast and collector Lind Bjornsen spotted the bus, he persuaded Brian to sell it to him. “It had an unusual amount of uncommon options, and I soon figured out the original spec, hiding under 10 layers of paint,” recalls Lind. He was able to obtain a period brochure, which showed that it was outfitted with a tool chest and workbench as well as all the components of a Volkswagen drivetrain (left). He has restored the bus to its original Volkswagen Mobile Service School colours, and with its interior intact it will be a popular attraction at VW meets.