In 1947, Volkswagen exported its first Beetles, in this case to Dutch importer Ben Pon. It is no coincidence that Ben Pon visits more often, and during a visit in 1948 sees a Beetle chassis with a work boot on top. The workmen used the handy trolley for all kinds of transports in the factory. This original trolley is currently still on display at the Volkswagen museum! Ben Pon was inspired by the trolley and sketched a practical van on a Beetle chassis. New Volkswagen managing director Nordhoff agreed to look at the model and, in 1948, developments began.

In two years, the first sketch is developed into a completely new vehicle. The bottom of the Beetle proved not strong enough, and a special ladder chassis is developed for the van. A slightly different engine comes into the van, but otherwise many parts are the same as the Beetle. After the beetle (type 1), Volkswagen introduced the van as an estate car (type 2) in 1950. The first two vans built left the factory on 8 March 1950 and were delivered to the Cologne VW dealer Fleischhauer.