Famous Kombi Lovers
Nov 17, 2013
We aren’t the only ones that are nuts about our Kombis. The Vee Dub Type 2 has had more than its fair share of admirers, including many celebrities:
Jamie Oliver (TV Chef)
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver travelled around Italy in one for his Great Escape TV show. The six-part series, Jamie’s Great Italian Escape, saw the chef add a specially built kitchen to a 23-window 1959 Samba VW for a trip around Italy. The Naked Chef modified it with a 2.4 litre Porsche 914 engine, Porsche Fuchs alloy wheels, and had it fitted with £10,000 ($17,000) of extras including sat nav, televisions, a games console and an audio upgrade. When he sold it at a Brands Hatch auction in May 2007 it fetched £47,000 ($81,000).
BBC Top Gear’s the Stig caned Oliver's T2 around the Top Gear test track, while the chef tried to make a salad in the back.
Jenson Button (Formula One Racing Driver)
Jenson Button is well known for his love of the VW campervan, driving around in a 1966 VW with fellow driver Lewis Hamilton in 2010 to give out free tickets to the Formula One British Grand Prix. He also owns a 1956 model and camps at Silverstone for the Grand Prix.
“I have a McLaren 12C drop-top in yellow, the kind of car everyone would love, but my coolest car is probably my 1956 VW camper van. It's red and white and looks like a standard bus, but it's got a bigger engine. She's a beauty.”
Source
Jensen sold his 1970 Volkswagen Kombi in 2010 for £16,650 ($28,500). The gold-coloured, left-hand drive Microbus was fitted with a brand new 1600cc factory engine fed by a pair of 40mm Solex carburettors and topped by chrome engine covers. The original steering box was replaced with a rack and pinion system and was sold complete with a Brawn baseball cap signed by Button
Richard Hammond (BBC Top Gear Presenter)
Richard Hammond bought his own VW (in pink) to take his his family on holiday. They bought the brand new Brazilian-made bus after renting one to take an Easter break. Richard said in his newspaper column that “it was, without doubt, one of our most successful holidays ever and quite possibly my favourite of all time.”
Roger Daltry (The Who)
Rock legend Roger Daltrey is patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust which gave away this fab 1965 VW campervan painted in Union Jack colours and covered in pictures of The Who. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles donated a 1965 ‘split-screen’ Transporter van with a unique The Who ‘Magic Bus’ livery designed by The Who’s art director, Richard Evans, for a raffle which raised over £32,000 ($55,000).
Martin Clunes (actor)
Man Behaving Badly Martin Clunes owns two campers — a rare black one with a bay windscreen, and a navy and white split-screen model dating from 1977. He says, "There’s something so self-contained about a camper. Driving one is like putting on a comfortable pair of old slippers."
