The Volkswagen Transporter has had a long and worthy career. Developed alongside the Beetle to be a cheap and economical light commercial vehicle, it found favour as a camper van with several generations who appreciated its simplicity and roomy interior, and the fact that it was just a bit different. Laurence Meredith tells the full story of the air-cooled Transporter in all its forms - 'splittie', 'bay' and 'wedge', from 1950 to the conversion to water-cooled engines and the end of an era in 1982.