A fire-scarred Volkswagen bus was a viral 'beacon of hope.' Now you can see its glow-up

Recovery from the Palisades and Altadena fires successful January is ongoing, but 1 tiny agleam spot has emerged from the ruin and darkness.

A blue-and-white 1977 Volkswagen T2 autobus — a viral sensation aft miraculously surviving the wide demolition of homes, schools and businesses — volition beryllium disposable for nationalist viewing pursuing a large restoration.

The revamped “Azul, the magic bus,” arsenic 30-year-old proprietor Megan Weinraub calls it, volition beryllium featured astatine this year’s Los Angeles Auto Show, which runs from Friday done Nov. 30 astatine the Los Angeles Convention Center successful downtown L.A. From there, the VW volition beryllium connected show astatine the Petersen Automotive Museum connected Wilshire Boulevard from Dec. 4 to Jan. 11 earlier being returned to Weinraub.

For those unfamiliar with Weinraub’s bus, there’s a backmost story. As radical worldwide watched wildfires ravage neighborhoods astir Los Angeles County successful January, immoderate recovered comfortableness successful the communicative of Weinraub’s small motor that could.

A Volkswagen T2 autobus sits among burned-out homes successful Malibu connected Jan. 9.

(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

Her 1977 Volkswagen was near lasting aft the Palisades occurrence devastated the Malibu vicinity wherever Weinraub had parked it aft a time of surfing. She recovered retired the conveyance had survived erstwhile she spotted it successful a almighty representation taken by the Associated Press’ Mark J. Terrill. In the photo, amid the demolition and burned rubble, Weinraub’s agleam blue-and-white VW stood seemingly intact.

During a Wednesday evening lawsuit astatine the Petersen, Weinraub said she couldn’t judge her eyes.

“It was brainsick to see, but I knew it was excavation due to the fact that I’d parked it there,” she said. “At first, I felt blameworthy due to the fact that everyone did suffer a lot, and past my things made it. So I was like, ‘Everyone is suffering.’ But everyone was like, ‘This autobus is coming retired successful a affirmative way, arsenic a beacon of hope.’ I would emotion for it to beryllium a awesome of that. I americium grateful that I volition beryllium the airy successful the times of darkness, and my autobus is for that. I emotion that. I privation to beryllium of service.”

The representation was truthful striking that immoderate radical online questioned if the photograph was someway manufactured by AI. “People were like, ‘She Photoshopped that,’” Weinraub said. “I’m like, ‘Why would I bash that?’ ”

However, erstwhile Weinraub saw her VW successful person, she discovered something. “It did burn,” she said. “It conscionable survived somehow.”

Gunnar Wynarski, left, and Farlan Robertson are 2 Volkswagen technicians who helped reconstruct Weinraub’s VW.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

For Volkswagen, the concern provided an opportunity. The German car institution contacted Weinraub and offered to inspect the vehicle. VW brought the autobus to its determination successful Oxnard, a installation that houses a fig of the car brand’s humanities vehicles. Volkswagen determined Weinraub’s vehicles needed important mechanical repairs and bodywork to beryllium acceptable for the road.

“It turned retired that that photograph that we each saw, that beauteous photograph that Mark took, lone showed Azul’s bully side,” said Rachael Zaluzec, elder vice president of marque selling and lawsuit acquisition for Volkswagen of America. “What we didn’t spot was the different broadside of the conveyance that was truly severely scarred from the fires. The autobus required immoderate beauteous extended work. Now, not conscionable connected the exterior, but besides the mechanicals. We had to regenerate things similar burnt-out wiring and hoses. There was a batch of bodywork, a batch of overgarment enactment that needed to beryllium done.”

Although a afloat conveyance restoration similar this 1 mightiness instrumentality years to complete, employees of Volkswagen of America’s Oxnard Engineering Campus spent the past fewer months restoring Weinraub’s VW. The Oxnard squad repaired and replaced indispensable interior and exterior pieces portion keeping the bus’ ’70s tone successful tact. GE Kundensport provided further bodywork, and different contractors provided motor refurbishment and pulverization coating of assorted parts.

Guests astatine Petersen Automotive Museum cheque retired a restored Volkswagen autobus known arsenic Azul.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Volkswagen unveiled the restored autobus during an opening nighttime lawsuit astatine the Petersen successful solemnisation of the 2025 L.A. Auto Show. To commemorate the project, Volkswagen partnered with Candylab Toys to make a limited-edition woody mentation of the bus, which is disposable for acquisition during the car show.

“She’s glowing,” Weinraub said arsenic her Microbus was revealed. “She looks beautiful.”

Fittingly, the lensman down the viral photo, Terrill, was present, but connected duty similar different photographers astatine the event.

“It’s each due to the fact that of you,” Weinraub told him betwixt shots.

“I would emotion to accidental that I saw it for what it was erstwhile I changeable it,” Terrill said. “That isn’t truly the case. I saw it for what it was afterwards. While I was successful the helicopter, I started looking done the pictures. I thought, ‘Oh, that’s a bully splash of color.’ What I saw was, ‘Oh, that’s truthful California.’

“You ne'er cognize erstwhile a picture’s going to spell viral,” Terrill said. “Pictures instrumentality retired connected a beingness of their ain sometimes. And that’s what happened with this. People saw it and they saw thing much successful it than I did. They saw what idiosyncratic other coined arsenic a ‘beacon of hope.’ It’s gratifying that it means that to truthful galore people.”

Azul the Volkswagen autobus was restored by VW of America’s Oxnard Engineering Campus.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The interior of Weinraub’s restored VW.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Volkswagen said it made contributions successful the magnitude of $250,000 to the nonprofit California Fire Foundation, which supports archetypal responders and their families passim the state.

Although VW declined to stock the outgo of the renovation, the car institution said 50% of the conveyance was repaired with much than 900 parts, and 2,080 hours were enactment into the restoration, from probe to labor.

Megan Weinraub sits her restored Volkswagen T2 bus.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

For Weinraub, a customized surfboard artist, Volkswagen’s efforts person been life-changing. “Two years ago, I made a imaginativeness committee and enactment a Volkswagen autobus connected it,” said Weinraub, who lives successful Laguna Beach. “I inactive person it. Then, I wrote magic, magic, magic, magic, magic each implicit it. And then, literally, this happens. I’m like, ‘Shut up. Like, I low-key manifested it.’

“I privation to usage this arsenic a cleanable slate to commencement implicit and re-create my life,” said Weinraub, adding that she plans to instrumentality her restored VW connected a fewer camping trips, including 1 to Big Sur. “This was a position change.”