Volkswagen Type 2 T2 Transporter Delivery Van BRS

BRS Truck Rental was established in 1975 and was part of the government-owned British Road Services company created in 1949 as part of a very ambitious post war plan to nationalise the UKs transport system. The vast majority of BRSs van rental fleet at this time were UK-built diesel-engined vehicles such as the Ford Transit and the company rarely bought foreign vehicles although contract hire fleet companies sometimes requested them. BRS did, however, buy six VW Type 2 vans in early 1975 including the example modelled here, believing that the quieter rear engined positioning of their petrol engines and more car-like driving position might appeal to customers whod not previously driven a van. Production of the T2, the second-generation Type 2 Volkswagen commercial, commenced at Hanover, Germany, in August 1967. It was both slightly larger and slightly more powerful than the original and was a wholly new design in both structure and styling. It remained faithful to VWs traditional layout however, using a rear-mounted air-cooled engine in a unitary construction body. Like the original Type 2 it was available from the factory in an array of guises, although specialist conversion companies also used it as a base for vehicles such as fire engines. The vehicle modelled was made in early 1975, the twenty fifth year of Type 2 production, and on August the 9th of that year Volkswagen celebrated the production of the four millionth Type 2.