Volkswagen restores an older T2 that survived the California fires in January 2025
Volkswagen of America has announced the start of a special project - the restoration of a blue-and-white T2 that miraculously survived the January 2025 fire in Southern California.
Here's What We Know
After the fires in California this January, one photo caught people's attention. It was taken by an Associated Press photographer in a Malibu neighbourhood devastated by the fire. The photo shows nothing surviving except a small blue 1977 Volkswagen T2 bus parked at the curb. It caught the attention of not only the public, but also Volkswagen of America. The company is now working to get the little bus in working condition for its owner.
A Volkswagen T2 among the charred houses on 9 January 2025. Photo: AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
The current owner of the T2 is Megan Krystle Wienraub. She named the car Azul after the colour and, according to the Associated Press, bought it from her friend and business partner Preston Martin. Megan and Preston are in the surfboard business and Martin even lived in the T2 for a while when he was fixing it up.
Although the van looked almost pristine in the famous photo, it wasn't. Already on initial inspection it was clear that the vehicle was intact on one side, but on the other the paint was cracked and chipped from the close fire. The temperature was so high that the T2 had melted wiring and other rubber elements. So the repair team at Volkswagen's office in Oxnard, California, will have quite a bit of work to do.
Winraub hasn't yet decided whether she wants to preserve some of the van's sunburnt patina that it had before the fire, or give it back the glossy look of a new vehicle. Either way, VW says the project should be completed later this year, after which Azul will be able to make trips to the surf beach again.
Sources: Volkswagen, AP
