60 years of Volkswagen vans celebrated by over 71,000 people

An official event to celebrate 60 years of Volkswagen vans held in Hanover, Germany, last weekend (5-7 October) attracted 71,000 visitors with an amazing selection of over 5,000 Transporter vans and campers – from the original ‘split-screen’ T1 to today’s fifth-generation models – and included the highlight of an exclusive concert by British rock legends, The Who.

Volkswagen van fans travelled from as far away as Australia, Portugal, Russia, The Ukraine, Denmark, Poland, the UK, France and Holland. They came in Volkswagen vans from every decade since the 1950s and when gathered, covered a total area of 255,000 square metres – the equivalent of around 35 football pitches.

The celebrations started with a special convoy through Hanover from the Volkswagen factory to the showground hosting the event where there was a covered stage to honour vehicles nominated for special prizes, plus a display of 100 historic and unusual models and exhibits from the Volkswagen museum, including the original design sketch from 1947.

The weekend generated some impressive figures: 11,500 visitors camped overnight in 3,724 Volkswagen vans, while 6,000 German sausages and 100 barrels of beer were consumed at the food stalls!

The exclusive, open-air concert by The Who on Saturday night was enjoyed by 44,000 people. They were pleased to hear that Pete Townshend owns a Volkswagen van and particularly enjoyed the performance of the song ‘Magic Bus’ which was played against a backdrop of footage of the iconic ‘split-screen’ Volkswagen Transporter from the 1950s.