The Brubaker Box is one of the weirdest and rarest cars ever

An independent US-based auto designer broke the mold in 1972 when he created the unforgettable Brubaker Box.

It merged the Volkswagen dune buggy with the California custom van craze.

And with only three ever created it’s truly one of the ‘weirdest’ cars in the world.

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The story of the Brubaker Box

Auto designer, Curtis Brubaker, was an alumnus of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena who teamed up with fellow designers, Todd Gerstenberger and Harry Wykes.

Brubaker had been inspired by Volkswagen Minibuses and the Southern California car scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s – but he wanted to give them both an upgrade.

With that in mind, the body of the Brubaker Box was designed to fit on the chassis of a Volkswagen Beetle.

In fact, Car and Driver magazine labeled the Brubaker Box the ‘the best thing that ever happened to a Beetle’ on its March 1972 cover.

Volkswagen disagreed, citing liability issues.

After failing to reach a deal with Volkswagen, however, Brubaker bought completed Beetles and converted them.

@launchmode

This is the weirdest car in the world 😳 #carsoftiktok #cartok #cartiktok

♬ original sound – Launch Mode 🏎

With that in mind, the scheme didn’t prove very profitable for the team of designers.

The result was that only three were ever made.

On the bright side, this meant that the rare cars became increasingly sought-after.

When one became the Roamer on the TV show Ark II, the Brubaker Box reached cult status.

Subsequently, another company called Automecca offered the Brubaker Box in kit form in various stages of completion as the Roamer Sports Van.

Around 25 were sold.

In 2018 a California company planned to reproduce the Box in kit form again, as the Boxx.

This isn’t the first time that cars have been sold as kits.

These are some of the world’s most interesting kit cars.

Kits are a great way to keep costs down with this Corvette C8 widebody kit costing the same as a family car.

The car

Brubaker blended several automotive subcultures.

The ‘world’s weirdest car’ per Launch Mode, made a huge splash at the 1972 Los Angeles International Motorsports Show

It included VW dune buggies, surf woodies, and custom vans.

The Brubaker Box is a molded fiberglass cuboid mounted on a Volkswagen Beetle Type 1 platform.

Keeping the diminutive 1.35 meter (53-inch)structure simple and rigid, it boasts just one single sliding door on the right side.

In an attempt to keep costs down, it had a windshield borrowed from an American Motors car with rear glass from an El Camino.

Speaking of rare VWs, this man somehow made one of Volkswagen’s rarest cars from the 1990s even rarer.