The Brubaker Box was a car designed by Curtis Brubaker, Todd Gerstenberger and Harry Wykes. Brubaker got the idea from Volkswagen Minibuses, and attempted to update the concept. The body was designed to fit on the chassis of a

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle, officially the Volkswagen Type 1, is a small family car produced by the German company Volkswagen from 1938 to 2003. One of the most iconic cars in automotive history, the Beetle is noted for its distinctive shape. Its pr ...

. In 1972 after a deal with Volkswagen could not be reached, Brubaker began buying completed Beetles and converting them to Boxes, selling the excess pieces. However, this scheme did not prove profitable, and very few Boxes were ever constructed. Brubaker filed for bankruptcy the same year. Investors in the company tried to continue manufacturing the Box in various ways, the only success being Mike Hansen's Automecca, located in Chatsworth, California, in 1974 with its Sports Van.

Construction

The Brubaker Box was assembled on a complete Volkswagen Type 1 chassis. Due to the extended length of the body compared to that of a standard Volkswagen Beetle, the foot pedal assembly was relocated forward and up from the standard position. The fuel tank was moved from the front to the center of the vehicle for increased safety. Constructed from

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

, the body was made from thirteen inner and outer panels, including a floor panel, riveted and bonded together. The front windshield was from an AMC Hornet, tail lights from a

Datsun Truck The Datsun truck is a compact pickup truck made by Nissan in Japan from 1955 through 1997. It was originally sold under the Datsun brand, but this was switched to Nissan in 1983. It was replaced in 1997 by the Frontier and Navara. In Japan, it ...

, and rear window from a

Chevrolet El Camino The Chevrolet El Camino is a coupé utility vehicle that was produced by Chevrolet between 1959–1960 and 1964–1987. Unlike a standard pickup truck, the El Camino was adapted from the standard two-door Chevrolet station wagon platform and in ...

. The whole body was designed to bolt directly to an unmodified Volkswagen Beetle chassis. In the first prototypes stock front seats from Ford or Volkswagen were retained and a lounge-type seat was created for the rear of the vehicle. To add to the rear seating area, a footstool/cushion was added above the fuel tank. A single sliding door on the right side was the only entrance. The radio and switches were in the driver's side panel. Shock absorbing bumpers of composite construction were designed to look like curved wood. The spare wheel was mounted to absorb frontal crash energy. For sunny days a large removable panel was positioned in the center of the roof panel. To reduce production costs, parts from other vehicles were used. Only three Brubaker Boxes were built. One became the Roamer, on the TV show

Ark II ''Ark II'' is an American live-action science fiction television series, aimed at children, that aired on CBS from September 11 to December 18, 1976, (with reruns continuing through November 13, 1977 and reruns returning from September 16, 1978, ...

. Approximately 25 additional Brubaker Sports Vans were built by Mike Hansen's AutoMecca before production ceased.

References

{{Reflist * Matras, John. "THE CAR: Brubaker Box The Original Minivan". Autoweek. October 16, 2000

* Torchinsky, Jason. "The Creator Of The Brubaker Box Has Some Big Plans For The Future". Jalopnik. July 31, 2014

* US Paten

Kit car manufacturers Kit cars Vehicles introduced in 1972 Vans