These VW open-back utes or Type 2 pickups are pretty rare out on the roads in Western Australia. While we never had the punitive taxes on light trucks that the USA used to keep these off their roads, they do not seem to have been anywhere near as common as the microbuses or vans of the same vintage.
This is a shame because they are the archetype of something that is common today – the crew-cab traytop. For anyone who needed to take people as well as goods to a job, this must have seemed a very good proposition.
I am a little taken aback with the three-door configuration but at least it allowed the passengers in the back to exit on the curb-side here in Australia. There appears to have been quite a bit of leg room back there as well, so no-one had to suffer. The high nature of the tray space is the legacy of the motor compartment design but for a lot of goods this would not have been a problem. Indeed it might have been a back saver as no stooping would be involved. At least there is a useful depth of panel around the tray floor and the fact that it had three-way loading could only have been good. Look at the side panel latches, though…
Full marks to the designer, however, for realising that the side and end panels would have to butt onto something when they folded down and then provided the rubber stoppers for it. These would have been awesome haulers in the day – and those of us that have to move long lengths of things wish we had this opportunity today.
A VW meeting would seem to have an aesthetic all its own…
