Volkswagen reveals final Kombi

Volkswagen has revealed the Kombi Last Edition, just 600 examples of which will be released in Brazil later this month to celebrate 56 years of continuous production in South America’s biggest nation.

Of course, VW Kombi production goes back further than that, with the original Kombi first appearing in Germany in 1949, making the archetypal bongo bus 65 years old next year.

However, all good things come to an end and, as we reported last October, new safety legislation in Brazil – the only country in which the Kombi is still produced – will see the last version roll out of the São Bernardo do Campo factory by the end of this year.

All new models sold in Brazil from 2014 will be required to come with anti-lock brakes and at least two front airbags, meaning the last T2 – as it’s known in Brazil – will finally call it quits in 2013.

Designed to mark the cessation of more than half a decade of uninterrupted production in Brazil, the Kombi Final Last Edition will wear special two-tone white and blue paint, whitewall tyres and tinted rear windows.

Each model will be fitted with a numbered dashboard plaque, as well as special vinyl upholstery for the seats and door panels, to match the exterior, plus embossed privacy curtains and even mod-cons like Bluetooth connectivity.

Unlike the original Kombi’s air-cooled 1.2-litre four-cylinder boxer engine, Brazil’s final Kombi is powered by a water-cooled 1.4-litre petrol engine that was introduced in 2005, delivering 34 per cent more power and reducing fuel consumption by 30 per cent.

Now a cult-bus worldwide, Volkswagen’s original Type 2 (also known as the Kombi, Transporter and Microbus in various markets) was first introduced in 1950 as the German car-maker’s second model line after the Type 1 (Beetle).

Although it was based on the same rear-engined, rear-wheel drive configuration as the Beetle, the T2 prompted almost all major manufacturers to build similar one-box delivery vans for commercial markets globally.

While production of the T2 ceased in Europe and the US in 1979, Argentina in 1986 and Mexico in 1996, Brazil has produced more than 1.55 million examples of the Kombi since 1957, making it the longest production run in the automotive world.

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