So today I’m out traveling to the Westest of coasts to drive something interesting: a completely restored and restomodded Volkswagen Type 2 Bus, with a full electric drivetrain conversion and upgrades for pretty much everything. It’s made by a company called Kindred, and I have to admit, it looks positively stellar. The only real downside I’ve noticed so far is that these completely re-built Buses start at about $249,000, which is about a quarter of a million dollars more than I can afford.
I’ll admit, I am a little conflicted about all this. Of course, I love the Volkswagen Type 2 bus, period. It’s a fantastically rational vehicle designed for the humble purpose of being a cheap commercial stuff-hauler that somehow ended up becoming one of the most iconic vehicles of all time, a symbol of a particular era. The intention wasn’t to make a cultural icon, it was to make a box on wheels, but it just became so much more.
I’ve gushed about the VW Bus plenty, and before I go off on a tangent about how it’s the conceptual successor to the Stout Scarab, maybe you can just watch this video we did on the Bus and I’ll get back to the subject at hand, these Kindred restomods.
So, my conflict: I adore old VW Buses, but I also feel like they’ve morphed into something nearly unobtainable for most people now, which is just never what was intended. Restored buses now – especially the 21 or 23 window ones – sell for, on average, close to $100,000. Granted, those prices are for well-restored ones, but finding even a rough early split-windshield bus is an expensive proposition no matter what.
So, with that in mind, maybe nearly $250,000 for an electric, completely re-worked one isn’t so absurd. It’s still a colossal amount of money, though.
I’m curious how much of the Bus’ character will be lost in such a translation to EV. Old buses were rattly, loud, slow things, and these EV ones promise to be silent and fast and solid. Will I miss the old mechanical clatter and busy-ness of old Buses? Or will I be happy to have about 294 hp on tap and modern, power disc brakes and a whole new suspension setup and all that?
I think Kindred builds these on their own bespoke EV chassis; that’ll be one of the things I’ll find out. I’m also curious just where the batteries are stored; is that the actual chassis above, and are they all in a big box at the rear? The Bus’ packaging would lend itself to that sort of layout, as you can see:
But wouldn’t that make for even worse weight distribution than the original? I don’t know just yet.
The interior layout, with its wraparound seating, does hint at under-seat battery storage there; it’s definitely not in the floor, which looks too thin. The battery is 74 kWh, good for a range of around 200 miles, about as good as a modern VW ID.Buzz. It’ll support DC fast charging, too.
The wheels look different, too, likely to accommodate the powered disc brakes. There’s a double wishbone front suspension instead of the old torsion arms, too, and a real rack-and-pinion steering setup. What will a bus with modern suspension and about 260 more horsepower feel like?
It’s a beautiful-looking restoration. They’re starting with non-23-window 1950-1963 buses, and they’re turning them into 23-window ones. They also seem to be using pre-1960 bullet turn indicators and the small round taillights, along with the overrider-free Euro bumpers.
There’s more modern (and heated) seats inside, a modern screen stuck in that metal dash, and overall looks beautifully appointed.
Is that just a forward-neutral-reverse lever now?
I should have one to drive for a number of hours on Wednesday, so if there’s anything you’d like to see or know specifically, let me know now and I’ll see what I can find out!
I’m very eager to try this happy thing, even if I can’t possibly grow and sell enough kidneys to ever actually own one. Even if I sold all three of the kidneys I have now!
Having grown up in old VW vans, I don’t see any reason they merit the prices they command, even these EV-converted ones. I guess nostalgia is really powerful for the well-heeled.
I’d add that even at this insane price, it’s sort of hilarious that it has the same range as a genuinely modern VW ID Buzz.
The existence of this thing at an even higher price sort of tells you just what an outright failure the ID Buzz is.
If only my father had kept the ’66 bus he had as the family hauler for a few years in the early ’70s. Just squirreled it away somewhere. I doubt he got any meaningful trade-in value for it. Who could have known it was a nest egg?
“Why does shoehorning a wrecked Tesla drivetrain into a VW Bus make it worth $250,000 and not a fraction what it would have been worth actually restored?”
With all that power and all the weight in back there’s really only one question I need answered.
Will it do a wheelie?
Edit: C’mon Torch. You know you wanna try it.
Every question that popped into my mid when I first saw this thing dissapeared completely when I read this, the only real question worth asking
I’d like to see a comparison to the Buzz you reviewed a year or two ago. Does it feel modern, or does it preserve any of the original character? Also, does it taste better or worse than the original?
What are they doing about front crash protection? Have they added anything to the front structure? This was the sole reason I sold my 1973 camper van—I was in an offset front crash at about 35mph and the girl riding shotgun missed losing her legs by about 6″.
Considering most trucks bumper heights would crash through the headlamps of this, it’s probably worth stating that even added structure doesn’t change that there’s no crumple distance – you’ve, quite literally, positioned your knees less than a foot from the outside sheetmetal that’ll be the impact point.
With that much more power on tap, how much more hosed are the occupants in the event of a collision?
This was my first thought. And actually it wasn’t so much about the horsepower as it was about the momentum with the weight of all of those batteries.
For sure. You don’t even need a head-on collision, even hitting something stationary with that much momentum behind you is a death sentence. Or at the very least, you’re getting your legs amputated above the knees.
0/10, would not drive this thing any faster than 35mph.
“…maybe nearly $250,000 for an electric, completely re-worked one isn’t so absurd.”
Well, you say that but.
I know.
We’re in a day and age when someone parks a $100,000 car in their driveway, it can be imagined that it’s a high-trim pickup truck. So, while horrendously expensive, not insurmountable, and only double the pricetag of the “average” new car.
But at $250,000, this is two and a half times that. Or five times an “average” new car.
You could have two fully restored traditional non-EV busses, and still have money left over to get a Subaru Outback for the winter.
Yeah this is one of those things that makes me say “that’s neat” and move on immediately. Though I’ll happily gobble up a write up detailing whatever unique features and whether or not you can conjure up any retro feels while driving this thing.
lol…..imagine paying that much money to drive a vw bus. Its great that someone is able to create a more modernized restoration but only a fool would spend that kind of money on it. I guess if you are that well off you can do stupid stuff without worry.
Reminds me of Singer and Icon, turning old vehicles into bespoke, unobtanium versions. I’m growing increasingly indifferent about the ultra-rare, expensive vehicles these days. If it was turning an old VW bus into a more usable one for a fraction of the price, then I’d be interested. Gas or electric, doesn’t matter, unobtanium is unobtanium.
So what would I like to know about it? I guess if it feels better than the Buzz van to drive as an enthusiast for old VWs.
If I’m being completely honest, nothing.
This bus is on a different plane of existence than me. It lives in a different world. Whether it’s good or bad, exists or does not, or succeeds or fails has no bearing on my reality.
see, that’s the core of the problem here. If I didn’t have this job, they wouldn’t let me anywhere near this thing. And if I got close, they’d spend an hour disinfecting it.
OMG. Torch sat in my driver seat of my AMX and I forgot to disinfect it…
Gives new meaning to Torching a car…
Yeah crazy seeing something like this. Is it cool? Sure it is but my god even if I withdrew all of my 401k’s (I am 33) I still wouldn’t have enough money for this. I would have to sell my house and even then I am not sure the equity would be enough after any money they would need to go to any fixes need to be done to the house.
I mean, pretty much any new car is on a different plane of existence than me. I sure as shit would rather read about this than a new Sentra or RAV4.
I like to read reviews of a Sentras or RAV4s.
I might chance buying a RAV4 in an unknown future and I’d like to know both the marketing fluff, as well as real-life practical “why is there so little headroom?” before I trundle off to the dealer to start shopping.
Every time I see one of you guys ask why there’s so little headroom, I remember that being short is a blessing.