Brubaker Box
Posted by willieyobslayer@reddit | WeirdWheels | View on Reddit | 60 comments
The Brubaker Box was a concept vehicle designed by Curtis Brubaker in the early 1970s, featuring a fiberglass body and a Volkswagen Beetle chassis.
It is generally considered one of the first minivans and featured a single, large sliding passenger door.
Although originally intended for sale as a kit car, only a small number (approximately 25) were produced.
It is highly sought after by collectors today due to its rarity and unique design.
JumboChimp@reddit
These weren't kit cars. Brubaker's original plan was to buy Beetle chassis from VW, but VW wasn't interested, so they were buying Beetles, stripping off the bodies and turning them into Brubaker boxes, which as cool as they look, kinda sucked. They made fewer than 100 of them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brubaker_Box
Whysoblunted@reddit
I’m in air cooled restoration, I service one occasionally, absolutely horrible to drive. By far the worst vw based thing I’ve ever driven, and I’ve seen A LOT of different kinds.
RoebuckThirtyFour@reddit
but why? driving position/seating or?
Whysoblunted@reddit
Zero visibility, raised footing position, limited to no adjustments,accessory positions counterintuitive.
Basically everything inside the vehicle is not designed well.
ezfrag@reddit
If it were double the size, would it be better?
sixsik6@reddit
Which is a shame, cuz the exterior is dope
JumboChimp@reddit
It's a car that looks cool until you think about it. It's based on a Beetle, which, nostalgia aside, was an objectively terrible car. Then some guys decide to put on a new body, with a single door on the passenger side, the front passenger window doesn't open, the driver's window is a slider, and in the back it's a wrap around love nest.
What's your next bad air cooled VW?
righthandofdog@reddit
objectively terrible, compared to WHAT exactly? My 73 bug was cheap to buy, had good fuel economy, was incredibly cheap and easy to work on and was VERY good in the snow, thanks to tall/skinny radial tires and weight on the rear axle. Friends who had similarly priced shit high school cars, ford mavericks/pinto, chevettes, etc. had MUCH more terrible cars. You don't sell 23 million "objectively terrible" cars.
Whysoblunted@reddit
Split between the 917 clones and the other similar one that’s got gullwing doors. Similar issues, you just can’t see shit from the stock beetle seat location and accessing anything is awful since it’s just a giant fiberglass shell.
The mini-T ones are not great but still drivable.
My favorites are always old style Manx buggies and Sand rails that people put effort into. Some buggies suck to get into the “hood” area but it’s just the design of them.
willieyobslayer@reddit (OP)
Good to know. I was simply going off of what I read, and it didn’t mention that. Thanks.
dj_host@reddit
Is that a single massive gull wing door?? Someone needs to get hold of the rights to this design and build a decent version of it. Would have one in a heartbeat!
DrieverFlows@reddit
OG cybertruck?
formachlorm@reddit
No because this actually looks good and has design thought put into it, it just 2 angles on a pile of shit.
DrieverFlows@reddit
Well, yeah. OG, ehh
rockstar_not@reddit
I feel like there was a Hot Wheels like this back when I was a kid, which I adored.
LucarioLuvsMinecraft@reddit
You might be thinking of the Dodge Deora. Pretty similar front design, especially the windshield.
3amGreenCoffee@reddit
A lot of people swear they had one, but it's a Mandela effect. Mattel never made one, despite a lot of people begging them for it.
Users5252@reddit
they probably made castings that look like one
rockstar_not@reddit
That’s probably true, but there was a whole line of “mod” hot wheels with exaggerated features that had this kind of a vibe.
Puffball973@reddit
It reminds of the vanster for some reason, I guess it's just the bulkiness of it cause the vanster really looks nothing like this thing.
KeeganY_SR-UVB76@reddit
I’m almost certain I had a Hot Wheels Brubaker Box.
teedeeguantru@reddit
There should have been one, some Hot Wheels cars were similar, but they never made one. Missed opportunity.
Snopro311@reddit
Still looks better than the cyber truck
misterxx1958@reddit
I completely agree with you, but it's really not that difficult to be much better.
ilovebostoncremedonu@reddit
My dog takes shits that look better than the cyber truck
Snopro311@reddit
Brahahaha
Atholthedestroyer@reddit
Not a hard bar to get over
PinupCheesecakeSale@reddit
This sort of looks like the child of a Cybertruck and the Scion XB, except they both look stupid and this somehow looks kinda cool. Like this could work as a van, a sleeper, a boat, or maybe a coffin.
NeuralFlow@reddit
Great concept. Terrible execution. Still cool looking
MrsPettygroove@reddit
It reminds me of a Hot Wheel I once had
Ouber_fox@reddit
Still looks better than the cybertruck
Gelnika1987@reddit
these always remind me of the Dodge Deora
GangreneROoF@reddit
Always loved these! That’s an amazing example.
l0st1nP4r4d1ce@reddit
Friend's dad had one of these. We all thought it was super cool. (We were 13, but I still think it's cool today.)
Jaymez82@reddit
All that work and it's still just a shitty Beetle underneath.
KeeganY_SR-UVB76@reddit
Love this thing. One was featured in my favorite show as a kid, ARK II.
bedlog@reddit
I vaguely remember it, so cool and Im watching one episode and I heard a star trek sound already
KeeganY_SR-UVB76@reddit
The ARK II itself was definitely the star of the show. Everything else about it definitely had enough 70s-cheesiness to tranquilize a horse.
ShalomRPh@reddit
https://www.imcdb.org/movie_127989-Ark-II.html
elkab0ng@reddit
Breadcrumbs for the rabbit hole I’m going to dive into after my appointment!
Confident-Benefit600@reddit
Mine too, i was to little to really remember, but i remember snipits of scenes with that sand and that RV and without readit i would be incomplete....
ScottaHemi@reddit
such a cool oddball. with terrible forward visibility and a wooden bumper xD
everything_is_bad@reddit
Better design than cyber truck
makeybussines@reddit
Looks like the Elon Musk version of a VW Buzz.
Onivlastratos@reddit
No way : Elon could NEVER make something this cool.
bedlog@reddit
I would drive the shit out of one those, US automakers need to look to the past for some sweet rides that might sell
wabudo@reddit
If I ever come into seven figure money this is going on my car collection.
Horror-Raisin-877@reddit
There’s about a hundred different vehicles going back to like the 1920’s that people have cited as “the first minivan”
Blakedigital@reddit
It sort of reminds me of my 1991 Toyota previa.
djscoots10@reddit
I love it.
Incon-thievable@reddit
The Brubaker Box is an amazing design. The simple shapes and unusual proportions are so odd but super appealing. I was fortunate to see one in person at the Petersen museum and I was shocked at how tiny it is.
andersaur@reddit
Oh hell yes.
atomicsnarl@reddit
The A Team could have used this
IRingTwyce@reddit
Jeff Dunham's Brubaker is even prettier than this one!
strangecabalist@reddit
I would love this!
Barbafella@reddit
I need this.
Ccracked@reddit
The A-Team 2099
ApricotNervous5408@reddit
Cars are boring now.
DMala@reddit
I never noticed before that they only have a single door. I guess the driver just has to kind of scooch their way out.
Also not super visible here, but the driving position is right where that side window is, basically unchanged from the original VW position. There's a weird "shelf" that runs across about where the original car's dash would be, and the space behind that is open all the way to where the windshield meets the front.
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