The VW Camper Van: A Biography (Biographies of Transport Icons) Book

It was invented immediately after the war in the factory a far-sighted English military man had set up to turn the German economy from making machines of warfare to more pacific products. By the seventies that dream had been amply fulfilled as the VW Campervan became the conveyance of choice for West Coast hippies Australian surf bums and Europeans taking the overland route to find enlightenment and good karma in India. It had also become - indeed still is - the first choice for any couple or family seeking a cheap camping holiday with wheels attached. So never mind the oddly off-centre driving wheel the vagaries of the aircooled rear engine - the VW Campervan had become more than a vehicle - it had truly become a way of life. Mike Harding's first ride in a Volkswagen Camper Van was back in 1961 when it was the carrying around the gear and bandmembers of his rock band the Manchester Rainmakers. Finally in 2009 he could wait no longer and bought his own a 2001 Type 2 bay window Brazilian import Danbury conversion in hot orange and off white.Add in the endless curiosity of the author of eight monographs on church architecture and the hilarious sense of humour of one of Britain's best stand-up comics and you have a wonderful social history of the postwar years through the prism of a single transport icon.Read More