Some might face this news as they might the passing of a Golden Age Hollywood actor: “Wow. He was still alive?”

In fact, the Volkswagen Type 2 – which debuted in 1950 and has been known variously as the Transporter, the Microbus, the Bulli, the Hippie Van and, in Portugal, the Breadloaf – has been built in Brazil since 1957, giving it the longest production run of any passenger automobile in history. Production of the Type 2 continued in Germany and the US until 1979; in Argentina until 1986; and in Mexico until 1996. The holdout, Volkswagen do Brasil, has at last announced the retirement of the line at the end of this year.

To mark the end of this unprecedented run, the company has announced the Kombi Last Edition, a numbered collection of the last 600 vans to roll off the line. A two-tone blue-and-white paint job will be echoed in fabric curtains in the windows and two-tone vinyl seats, while whitewall tires and white wheel caps pay homage to early iterations of the Type 2. A numbered identification plaque will be mounted into the dashboard of each vehicle, and a special decal will declare “56 anos – Kombi Last Edition”.

Brazilian Kombis pack a 1.4-litre gasoline engine producing a meagre 78hp (80hp when running ethanol), though it has become less polluting in recent decades thanks to water cooling and catalytic converters. The Kombi still offers the authentic VW van experience, with everything an adventurer needs to embrace the open road – provided the road is not particularly hilly.

Great Moments in Kombi History