This is a relatively large 1:4 scale kit of the VW Bus Bulli T1 flat-four boxer engine. It includes many transparent parts which allow you to see the moving internal components, which all move like in a real engine.
This series of engine kits by German manufacturer Franzis are all officially licensed, and the range includes the Porsche 911 engine, VW Beetle engine, BMW R90 motorcycle engine, the Ford Mustang 289 V8, and more.
The kit consists of 200+ individual parts that all either click together, or screw together, with no glueing required. It can be completed in about two hours at a leisurely pace.
The Volkswagen Type 2, often simply called the VW Bus or VW Kombi, is a van that entered production in 1949 using many parts from the VW Type 1, better known as the Volkswagen Beetle.
Interestingly, the idea to create the VW Van is credited not to Volkswagen but to Dutch Volkswagen importer Ben Pon. On a factory visit he saw a Beetle chassis that had been converted into a simple factory-runabout for carrying parts. He realized it could be turned into a van relatively easily, and this would be the seed of the idea that resulted in the Type 2.
The first generation Type 2, known a little confusingly as the Type 2 T1, was powered by a 1.1 liter air-cooled flat-four borrowed from the Beetle, with a small number of changes.
This engine produced just 24 bhp, and it was updated to the 1.2 liter unit in 1953 which eked out 30 bhp. Later in the 1950s power would be increased further, all the way up to a heady 40 bhp.
The VW Type 2 Van would become a key workhorse both in post-WWII Europe and the United States, as well as further afield in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and South America.
The kit also comes with a booklet that tells the story of the VW Type 2 and covers all its major generations.
Later, the Type 2 would become the van of choice for the Hippie Movement, with vans painted in colorful rainbow motifs and acting as both a form of transport and a home for its long-haired owners.
For many years these early VW Vans were cheap and plentiful, many would succumb to rust, accidents, neglect, and junkyards as a result. More recently the values of early Type 2s has been enjoying a stratospheric rise well into the six figures for many models.
The VW Bus Bulli T1 Engine Kit Shown Here
This kit was developed by German company Franzis, it’s a 1:4 scale model of the early VW Bus Bulli T1 flat-four, and it’s designed to be assembled in approximately two hours with all parts either screwing or snapping together easily – there is no glueing required.
The kit includes 200+ parts in total, including the block, heads, cylinders, crankshaft, pistons, connecting rods, valves, cam shaft, and more.
This is the kit to build the very first version of the VW Bulli engine, the 1.1 liter unit from the late 1940s until 1953.
It has a built-in electric motor which is powered by a pair of AA batteries (not included) which turns the motor’s rotating assembly allowing you to see the pistons and valves rising and falling with the correct timing. It also has an integrated sound module that provides a the sound of the Bulli engine running.
The only place we can find this kit for sale at the moment, where it’s not completely sold out, is on eBay out of Augusta, New Jersey. You can visit the listing here, the asking price is $189.99 USD and they have a number of kits in stock at the time of writing.
Images courtesy of Franzis
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
