The cult bus with a connection to Switzerland

It was after the Second World War that a Dutch car salesman was at his wit’s end. This Bernardus Pon, then 43 years old, sold Volkswagens in his home country as a general importer. But in the Netherlands, Germany was hated for its occupation during the war, so it was difficult to sell German cars. That is why Ben, as Bernardus Pon was called, focused on innovation: he came up with a simple transport vehicle with a box-shaped structure that had to be as robust as a VW Beetle, also with a rear engine.

After a visit to the VW factory in Wolfsburg in 1947, Ben Pon sat down and made a simple sketch: the VW transporter, also known as the VW bus, of which millions had been produced, was born! The sketch, scribbled in his perforated notebook, is now in the familiar Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam it is regarded as the beginning of an extraordinary success story. This Ben Pon also had something to do with Switzerland, but more on that later.

The Volkswagen T1 – the original VW bus model based on Pon’s idea – rolled off the production line in 1950 as standard. The transporter quickly developed into a triumph. Because during the economic miracle, craftsmen and small businesses needed a small workshop bus, so that the 100,000th VW bus was produced just four years later. The “Bulli”, like that BUS-LIFrom that moment on, the eferwagen was still very popular as a work transporter, family vehicle, camper or hippie bus. Meanwhile, the “Bulli” has become a coveted cult car and has a large fan base all over the world.

Back to Ben Pon. In between, the lively car salesman born in 1904, who also owns the “VW Beetle” brought to America, take a deep breath. Before that he had rented a holiday home in Switzerland from 1957, namely near Oberhalten an der Forchwaldstraße in Walchwil in the canton of Zug, where even figs and palm trees grow due to its favorable location. Ben Pon liked it there so much that he wanted to buy or build a house. At the main table “stars” the Dutchman expressed his wish; the landlord then sent him to Thomas Hürlimann-Luthiger, who was in Walchwil “Schmitte” owned a heating and plumbing company and was also a well master and councilor.

From that moment on it went fast. In 1961 Pon was able to buy a piece of land on Engelmatt on which Hürlimann built a villa. As a result, Ben Pon came to the Zugersee more often. When the municipality of Walchwil inaugurated the new school building in 1963, car dealer Ben Pon came up with something special, especially since the school was close to his property: he gave all the children of Walchwil primary school presents – each child received a bank savings book with a credit of ten francs from the wealthy Neo-Walchwiler.

The first graders of the following years also received a savings book from the generous Dutchman. The online magazine “Central Plus” found gift recipients of the time like Monika Senn, who is quoted as saying: It was “really impressive”, “one comes and gives the whole school a present in one fell swoop, which we might have hoped for at Christmas.”

Today, Walchwil is a popular residential and tax location for wealthy foreigners; Back then, in the mid-1960s, that was not the case. The gifts from the Dutchman must therefore have caused a stir in the former farming village.

But the story of the rich cupbearer went even further. Ben Pon was so impressed with Thomas Hürlimann’s performance in arranging the land sale and construction that he wanted to continue doing business with him. The Dutch car dealer and the Walchwil dealer founded the investment and real estate company together in 1964 Bentom AG – The first part of the name refers to Ben Pon, the second to Thomas Hürlimann. They built numerous houses and apartments in the cantons of Zug and Lucerne.

Ben Pon died in 1968, his son of the same name took over the chairmanship of the board of directors in Walchwil (until 1971). That is still the case to this day bentom successful as a real estate company in the best residential areas. In the underground garages of the nobility bentom-Apartments are quite few vehicles of the VW brand – but ultimately belong to them Porsche to the VW group …