Hippie Chic: Nine Nifty VW Microbus Mods


Whether painted in psychedelic colors or left in its two-toned, split-windshield glory, the classic VW Microbus still resonates as an icon of the 1960s. These days, an astonishing array of consumer products reverently reference the “hippie van” while further cementing its pop culture star status.

VW Camper Van Tent

(images via: Social Shopping and The Quirky Globe)

Relive the Summer Of Love anytime, anywhere with the officially licensed VW Camper Van Tent. Modeled after the 1965 Kombi van and designed to comfortably seat, er, sleep 4, the tent is large enough to stand up inside and offers those not keen on free love a zippered interior privacy partition.

(image via: Festival Glamping)

The VW Camper Van Tent comes in your choice of Peppermint Green, Red, Yellow or Blue complemented with white and comes complete with poles, pegs, ropes and an easy-to-read instruction manual. Setup should take about 20 minutes assuming the setter-upper isn’t overly mellowed out, man.

Volkswagen Imperial AT-AT Walker

(images via: Empistyler)

Call it the Grateful Death Star – this mind-boggling mashup of a VW Type 1 Microbus and the Imperial AT-AT Walkers from the original Star Wars film were first posted online in 2009. The actual sculpture has yet to be photographed by anyone else; that and the fact that the background in both images is the same leads one to believe the artwork is MUCH smaller than it appears and was simply picked up and turned for the second photo… not that this in any way detracts from the Volkswagen Imperial AT-AT Walker’s sublime and amusing beauty.

Volkswagen Original Minibus Toaster

(images via: Autoblog and The Samba)

Japanese VW dealers came up with a superb way to induce customers to bring in their cars for servicing – only those who took the bait could buy an Volkswagen Original Minibus Toaster. This official VW item was only available to the first 5,000 customers who took advantage of the offer, and it’s hard to imagine anyone turning this cool toaster down.

(image via: KombiClub)

Available in a number of colors, the Volkswagen Original Minibus Toaster not only looked awesome, it made toast emblazoned with the VW logo… hey, it beats Hello Kitty. Desperate for a Minibus Toaster of your very own but not a VW-driver living in Japan? Scour eBay, friends, as these uniquely appealing appliances pop up (sorry) on the popular auction site from time to time.

VW Microbus Snooker Table

(images via: Techeblog)

Let the games begin! We’re not sure why anyone would want to convert a VW Microbus into a pool table but really, does it matter? We’re just glad they did. How the severely chopped and otherwise modified T1 gets from place to place is another story but again, as long as it gets there everyone’s gonna be happy.

Super Stylish Slope Device

(images via: WIRED Autopia)

Try as you might, you can’t get a “Super Stylisches Pistengerät” (in German) at your local VW dealer, which is a pity ‘cuz they’d probably sell boatloads. Instead, this improbable combination of bliss & blitzkrieg comes courtesy of Austrian bus boffin Bernd Berger, who spent roughly four years and upwards of $80,000 to create a Microbus to die for.

(image via: WIRED Autopia)

As can be seen, the slopes don’t have to be snowy for the tank-tracked terrain trampler to turn heads. Comprising the body of a 1966 Volkswagen T1 bus and a Bombardier ski resort snow groomer of similar vintage, the one-of-a-kind wonder packs a 1,000-watt subwoofer, a 5-channel Behringer mixer and two Technic 1210 turntables that together turn any gathering it can get to into party central.