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Iconic Volkswagen bus being retired thanks to new safety laws
File: VW Bus drives into Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival 2012 held at the Empire Polo Club on April 12, 2012 in Indio, California.
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Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Coachella
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The Volkswagen Transporter 2, better known as the VW bus — that iconic vehicle of hippie culture and the Venice Beach lifestyle — is officially being retired.
The reason? Brazil, where the vehicle is produced, recently upped their safety laws — and the VW bus’s design isn’t compatible with requirements for anti-lock brakes and airbags, Quartz reports. The vehicles will cease production at the end of the year.
The vehicle is still enough of a part of VW's brand that they just posted this picture on Facebook Sunday of a customized Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles bus:
Post by Volkswagen USA.
It’s been produced for the last 60 years, making it the longest-produced model in automotive history, according to Quartz.
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It was also relatively cheap for a minibus, and widely used in Brazil where it was produced, Der Spiegel reports. It serves a wide array of duties in the country, from ambulance… to hearse.
They’re offering one last chance to get one this year, putting out a special limited edition of the vehicles that include some more modern amenities, like an MP3 sound system and USB ports, according to the Daily Telegraph.
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