LIFESTYLE cargoshippingtimes 11/21/2025 0 Comments

A Volkswagen bus that survived the Palisades fire has been restored

Recovery from the Palisades and Altadena fires in January continues, but a small bright spot has emerged from the devastation and gloom.

A blue and white 1977 Volkswagen T2 bus – a viral sensation after miraculously surviving the mass destruction of homes, schools and businesses – will be available for public viewing after a major restoration.

The redesigned “Azule, the magic bus,” as 30-year-old owner Megan Weinraub calls it, will be on display at this year’s Los Angeles Auto Show, which runs from Friday to Nov. 30 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles. Before returning to Weinraub.

For those unfamiliar with the Weinraub bus, there is a back story. As people around the world watched the wildfires raging around Los Angeles County in January, some found solace in Weinrobe’s story of the little engine that could.

A Volkswagen bus sits among the burning houses.

Her 1977 Volkswagen was left stranded after the Palisades Fire destroyed the Malibu neighborhood where Weinrobe had parked it after a day of surfing. She discovered the car had survived when she saw it in a powerful photo taken by The Associated Press’ Mark J. Terrell. In the photo, amid the wreckage and burning debris, Weinraub’s bright blue and white VW appears to have been left.

During Wednesday evening’s meeting in Patterson, Weinraub said he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“It was crazy, but I knew it was mine because I parked there,” she said. “At first, I felt guilty because everybody lost so much, and then my stuff made it. So I was like, ‘Everybody’s suffering.’ But everyone was like, ‘This bus is coming in a positive way, as a beacon of hope.’ I would like it to be a symbol of that. I am grateful that I will be a light in the dark, and that is what I am for. I like it. I want to serve.”

The image was so startling that some people online questioned whether the image was somehow created by AI. “People were like, ‘She photoshopped it,'” Weinrobe said. I say, ‘Why would I do that?’ »

However, once Weinrobe saw her VW in person, she discovered something. “It was burning,” she said. “It just barely survived.”

For Volkswagen, the situation presented an opportunity. A German car company contacted Weinraub and inspected the car. VW brought the bus to its location in Oxnard, a facility that houses a number of the auto brand’s historic vehicles. Volkswagen decided that the Weinraub vehicles needed significant mechanical repairs and body work to make them ready for the road.

“It turns out that the photo that we all saw, the beautiful photo that Mark took, just showed the good side of the Azul,” said Rachel Zaluzek, senior vice president of brand marketing and customer experience for Volkswagen of America. “What we didn’t see was the other side of the car that was really badly damaged by the fire. The bus needed some extensive work. Now, not just the exterior, but the mechanical stuff as well. We had to replace things like burnt wiring and hoses. There was a lot of body work, a lot of paint work that had to be done.”

Although a complete restoration of a car like this can take years, staff at Volkswagen of America’s Oxard Engineering Campus have spent the past few months restoring the Weinraub VW. The Oxnard team repaired and replaced the necessary interior and exterior pieces while keeping the bus’ ’70s spirit in tact. GE Kundensport provided additional body work, and other contractors provided engine rebuilds and powder coating of various parts.

Visitors see a refurbished Volkswagen bus known as the Azul.

Volkswagen unveiled the restored bus during an opening night event in Paterson in celebration of the 2025 LA Auto Show. To commemorate the project, Volkswagen partnered with Candylab Toys to create a limited edition wooden version of the bus, which will be given away during the auto show.

“She’s bright,” Weinrobe said as her VW bus appeared. “She looks beautiful.”

Fittingly, the photographer behind the viral photo, Terrell, was there, but on a mission like the other photographers at the event.

“It’s all because of you,” Weinrobe told him between shots.

“I want to say I saw it for what it was when I shot it,” Terrell said. “It’s not really like that. I saw it for what it was after. When I was in the helicopter, I started looking at the pictures. I thought, ‘Oh, that’s a nice color.’ What I saw was, ‘Oh, this is so California.’

“You never know when a photo will go viral,” Terrell said. “Photographs sometimes take pictures about their own lives. And that’s what happened with this one. People saw it and they saw more in it than I did. They saw what someone else made as a ‘light of hope’. It’s gratifying that it means something to so many people.”

A side view of the Volkswagen bus known as the Azul with the passenger door pulled back to show the interior.

Weinraub restored VW interior dashboard, wheel and seats.

Volkswagen said it donated $250,000 to the California Firefighters Foundation, a nonprofit that helps first responders and their families across the state.

Although VW declined to share the cost of the restoration, the automaker said 50% of the cars were repaired with more than 900 parts, and 2,080 hours to restore, from research to work.

Amy Weinrobe appears in her Volkswagen bus, side view.

For Weinraub, a traditional surfboard artist, Volkswagen’s efforts are life-changing. “Two years ago, I made a vision board and put a Volkswagen bus on it,” said Weinrobe, who lives in Laguna Beach. “I still have it. Then, I wrote magic, magic, magic, magic, magic, magic all over it. And then, literally, it happens. I’m like, ‘Shut up. Like, I low-key show it.’

“I want to use it as a clean slate to start over and rebuild my life,” Weinraub said, adding that he plans to take his restored VW on a few camping trips, including one to the big red. “It was a change of perspective.”

https://www.latimes.com/