There’s a chance the venerable VW Kombi may yet merge from the grave and enter production once again.

Still produced in by Brazil until a week ago when production was finally halted after 63 years, it now appears the Brazilian government are contemplating doing what the South African government having become so adept at… bending the law a little.

The reason the Brazilians first called time on the Kombi was new legislation that will come into effect in 2014. From then on all new cars sold in the country have to be equipped with ABS and airbags. Those two items, of course, are not part of the old VW’s arsenal as integrating them into the design is not possible.

The only option was to bring the curtain down on the model and to mark its remarkable longevity, VW Brazil had announced the Kombi Last edition with an exclusive blue and white paintjob and matching interior. Only 600 units of this whitewall-shod edition rolled of the factory line. And that appeared to be that.

Only not.

Guido Mantega, the Brazilian finance minister has announced that his government may now exempt the Kombi from the new safety regulations. The original design, says Señor Mantega, could not include airbags or ABS because back then they were not available to passenger cars. Good – if not a little odd – news. Surely they would have thought about this when it was first decided to can the Kombi…?

The reason for this turn around is likely to be driven by economic concerns. At the time of its recent and possibly short-lived demise, the VW Kombi was the sixth best selling commercial vehicle in Brazil and particularly popular among small business owners. Not only was it helping small business growth (key in any economy) but it’s been providing employment for at VW’s Anchieta plant at Sao Bernardo do Campo near Sao Paulo, since 1969 (six years after VW’s Wolfsburg plant started production in 1963).

Original article from Car