Which motor car brand is the Danfo bus? Where and how are they assembled?

Let me take you on a stroll down memory lane.

The buses that people today know as Danfo buses are not the original Danfo buses. They are actually an improvement over the original Danfo buses. The original Danfo buses, as far as I am concerned, are extinct.

If you know the 2003 hit song, ‘Danfo Driver by Mountain Black and Mad Mellon’, then you’d have seen the real danfo bus; that’s what they used for the video shoot. Here is the video of the song in case you you’d like to watch it:

And, below is an image of the original Danfo Bus.

This bus is made and assembled by the German company Volks Wagen. It is officially know as the Type 2, because it is a ‘child’ to the Volkswagen Beetle, which is official known as Type 1. Unlike the ‘child’, the Volks Wagen Beetle is a ‘dwarf’.

The Volkswagen Beetle (Volks Wagen Type 1) was a request made by the then German Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler. Back then, he wanted a cheap simple car (‘The People’s Car’) to be mass produced for the German roads. The beetle was the result of that request. It had some unique features like a rear engine and the absence of a radiator for water.

The Danfo bus was produced some years later, with the same technology, the only difference being that it could carry more passengers/goods. Thus, the name Type 2.

There is a variation of the Danfo bus called Kombi.

Depending on who you ask, the Danfo and Kombi are used interchangeably. However, we Nigerians differentiate both. The major difference I can immediately point out is the design of the rear door. Compare both.

Now let’s talk about today’s Danfo buses.

I don’t know why, but the Volks Wagen produced a similar bus. For me, they are very different though. Just like there was Danfo and Kombi, these buses also came in two types. They are the ‘Fedeco’ and the ‘Vanagon’. They are the same in every way except that the Vanagon has a radiator for water and the Fedeco does not. You wouldn’t know by looking at them. I can usually tell from the sound of their engines. Their engine types are also completely different from the Danfo buses.

Below is the Fedeco/Vanagon.

Like I said earlier, you almost can’t find the Danfo bus again. I’ve not seen one in several years, but if you talk about Danfo today, this is what immediately comes to people’s minds.

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