The RWB Beetle is one of the most original stories our website has ever presented. Based on a famous set of renderings, somebody went ahead and produced a widebody Bug in the style of the famous air-cooled 911 monsters. But what if there was also a VW Kombi in the same style?
To answer that question, we have a fresh rendering from Rob3rt Design, the very person who originally rendered the RWB Beetle. This time, his creation is even crazier, mixing in elements from about a dozen types of cars and tuning projects.
Starting at the front, this is obviously supposed to be a Slantnose version of the VW Kombi. Why? Well, not only are the normal headlights missing, but you’ve also got new round lights in black surrounds at the bottom of the fascia. This element is copied almost 100% from the Nissan 350Z Slantnose, the build otherwise known as the 935Z, due to its resemblance with the famous race-inspired 911 nose conversions.
The Slantnose design is actually way more modern than the base model. Volkswagen began making the Kombi in 1950 and pickup versions like this one were offered soon after that. Kombis started out with split windscreens, the aim being to create a slight vee to improve their atrocious aerodynamics.
Of course, the design changed over the years, but because this was an international model, you could find models with this shape still in production two decades later. The Kombis may have been utility vehicles or vans, but they were based on the same chassis as the Beetle.
From an engineering point, they brought one particularly interesting innovation: placing the driver forward of the front axle. Many manufacturers had a go at copying Volkswagen’s idea, Ford with the Econoline, Renault, or Toyota.
Kombi Pickups weren’t particularly safe with no crumple zones, but they were also quite slow. In the case of Rob3rt’s rendering, we can see that’s not the case. Four exhaust pipes sticking out the back remind me that Subaru WRX engines are a popular swap. On later Volkswagen Bus models, they also used flat-6s from the Japanese manufacturer.
The Slantnose Kombi Pickup also rides pretty low, suggesting it would have a custom chassis. Massive tires project the aura of a powerful race car, while a widebody kit helps the era rubber hide.
The fenders are done in the Pandem/Rocket Bunny style, with large bolt-ons reminiscent of a drifting Nissan Silvia. The lower half of the digital body kit is made from forged carbon by the looks of it.
And then you have the aero in the RWB Porsche style, including a front chin spoiler and a large spoiler right over the back of the compact ute. Racing surfboards place this rendering in the same spectrum of craziness as Hot Wheels.
Remarkably, the Germans themselves stopped making Kombis in 1967, but the model has a global reach. It’s synonymous with California beach life and Latin American culture, from Mexico City to Rio. The very last Type 2 rolled off the production line in Brazil in 2013.
