There are certain van platforms that have become beloved amongst people looking for a campervan conversion which combines versatility with usable space, comfort and drivability.
One of the most famous of these is the VW Transporter line, which from the original Type 2 up until today has been a reliable platform popular for setting up a living space to perfect the “van life” for the same reasons they have become beloved for business.
However, one aspect of the Transporter sometimes lost in its seven-decade history is that one of its primary influences was one of the most unusual concept cars ever made, designed as part of the utopian vision of the unusual designer Buckminster Fuller.
Born Richard Fuller in 1895, Buckminster Fuller is most famous for inventing the geodesic dome, but his most intriguing design principle and what ultimately inspired Volkswagen was an architecture, design and philosophic principle that he dubbed Dymaxion.
He wanted to create a method of design that would maximise the use of the Earth’s resources during a time when it was believed that fossil fuels would never run out.
Thus came the idea of Dymaxion, short for Dynamic Maximum Tension, and was a series of inventions and concepts based on maximising advantage with minimal energy.
The most famous example of this principle in action was the Dymaxion house, an early prefabricated house designed to be as easy as possible to manufacture, ship and construct with minimal energy requirements.
Alongside the house, however, was the Dymaxion car, an early vehicle designed with aerodynamics and fuel efficiency in mind, as well as the ability to go anywhere.
The initial concept was far too radical given the limited knowledge of aerodynamics in the 1930s, especially when combined with rear-wheel steering that made it extremely dangerous to drive, to the point that one of the prototypes killed its driver in 1933.
However, the concept of a compact but spacious vehicle which put aerodynamics first would prove highly influential to a generation of vehicles, including the VW Type 2, and much of that DNA can be seen in many of the Transporters on the road today.
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