Volkswagen to restore famous minibus that survived California fire (4 photos)
The American division of Volkswagen has announced the start of work on restoring a 1977 T2 minibus. This car gained worldwide fame after a photo of the minibus, standing unscathed at the epicenter of the January fires in Los Angeles, went viral. It turned out that the surviving T2 still requires close attention: the work will be completed only by the end of the year. 
In January, it was reported that the blue Volkswagen T2 belongs to California resident Megan Weinraub. Due to the intense fires, she was unable to move the vehicle out of the fire zone, but the van survived, although surrounding houses and trees burned out.
VW's U.S. office said that, like other Americans, they were amazed by the story of the car, which its owner calls Azul. The company contacted Megan, offered its help, and removed the T2 from the damaged area as soon as access opened. Azul is now at the engineering campus in Oxnard, where a collection of vintage Volkswagen cars is stored and maintained.
It was stated that the van needs extensive mechanical and body work to make it usable again. Work is already underway, and the company timed the announcement of the restoration to coincide with International Volkswagen Bus Day, which, at the initiative of the company, was scheduled for June 2 in 2023. 
