los angeles — The old blue Volkswagen bus that became an unlikely symbol of resilience after surviving California wildfires made its debut this week, shiny and brand new after Volkswagen spent months restoring the damaged vehicle.
The bus went viral in January when it was captured by an Associated Press photographer He looks surprisingly unharmed By the killer Palisades firea speck of blue and white dwarfed by the charred remains of the Malibu neighborhood. Volkswagen saw the accompanying AP story and reached out to owner Megan Weinraub. After closer inspection, Volkswagen technicians discovered that although the bus survived, it had smoke damage, blistered paint, rust, and a window that had been shattered due to the heat.
During its restoration, the 1977 Type 2 Microbus named Azul – Spanish for blue – brought people together again as technicians consulted with the wider community of Volkswagen enthusiasts in a shared mission to revive what had been a quirky, middle-aged vehicle.
“It melted down and Volkswagen salvaged it,” Weinraub said Thursday at the Los Angeles Auto Show, standing with the bus’s former owner, Preston Martin. “It was a huge relief because it wasn’t my first priority with everything going on.”
They still can’t believe that the bus they wrote off as a goner is now ready to take them on another surfing adventure. The last time they saw Azul pre-burned was two days before the Palisades fire, when they parked the bus near Weinraub’s apartment after surfing.
Mark J. Terrill, the AP photographer who took the original photo, was present when Weinraub and Martin saw the bus for the first time after its restoration in late October.
Volkswagen moved the Microbus to its Oxnard facility in West Los Angeles, where it houses historic Volkswagen vehicles. Vehicle technicians Farlan Robertson and Gunnar Winarski sourced hard-to-find parts, got creative, and connected with a lot of people.
“The essence of it was trying to take the car that everyone saw and do what we could to improve it, but not change it, so that it actually comes out and is the car that has been revived and restored to its former glory,” Robertson said.
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Haar reported from San Francisco