The Volkswagen Westfalia Standard Features

In 1950, the Volkswagen Transporter not only became Germany's first minivan / pick-up / camper van, but the first one in the world as well. These unique vehicles went well past any general idea of automotive ingenuity. They were practically designed to be homes on wheels and that's exactly what many people made them. One company in particular played a very large part in this ideological transition for the use of the automobile, and that company was Westfalia.

Westfalia produced camper conversions for Volkswagen for nearly 55 years. Volkswagen hired the German company to equip their standard Volkswagen mini-vans with super camping features that would turn the ordinary Volkswagen Transporter breadbox van into a super-traveler Volkswagen camper van.

The Westfalia upgrade packages for the Volkswagen Transporter came with many standard features (if the word ìstandardî can really even be used). Though the stock Volkswagen Transporter came with rows of back seats, Westfalia removed the standard seating and replaced them with folding seats that were also designed to be used as beds when let down in to the horizontal position. When it came to the aesthetics of the van, all of the inside panels were made with Birch veneer panels which gave the Volkswagen camper vans interior a new more beautiful look. Collapsible tables were also added and these could be used as dining tables on the inside of the bus. Many other ìat homeî touches were added to give the van a very comfortable and coy feeling; amenities such as window curtains and wood veneer storage drawers for utensils. A mini-freezer was added to provide ice when necessary, electrical outlets were available to plug in electronics such as televisions, and many of the Westfalia models even included sinks. These are just the standard features that came in nearly every Westfalia model, and by this simple list, it's obvious to see that they were in no way short on standard features.