Mini Messenger - 1973 Volkswagen Samba

The Samba was the highest trim Volkswagen offered on the Type 2 microbus — the deluxe version, with a fabric sunroof, two-tone paint, and a count of windows that became a kind of shorthand for the model. The original split-screen T1 Samba carried 23 windows; the bay-window T2 that replaced it in 1967 simplified to a more practical layout but kept the sunroof, the chrome trim, and the broadcloth upholstery that distinguished it from the workaday Kombi.

It became, almost accidentally, the official vehicle of the global counterculture. Wavy Gravy drove one. The Grateful Dead toured in them. Every Big Sur surfer of the late 1960s and early 1970s seems to have owned at least one. The Samba was also Volkswagen's official choice for European mountain tourism — period brochures show it on Alpine passes carrying wealthy Düsseldorf families to Cortina with skis on the roof.

VW built the Type 2 in Germany until 1979 and continued production in Brazil until 2013, making it one of the longest-running vehicles in history. The 1973 model year falls squarely in the bay-window era — the version most often photographed, most often restored, and now consistently among the most sought-after air-cooled Volkswagens at auction.