VW used the Vanagon tag for the North American market, appealing to both the van and wagon crowd. (Dodge had their own Club Wagon at the time.) The Transporter was also known as the T25 in the UK and Microbus in other parts of the world.

Vanagons were available in two models: an air-cooled model, using most of the same running gear as previous years, and a diesel model borrowing its running gear from the Dasher.

VW re-tooled the Vanagon mid-way through 1983 and reintroduced the Vanagon with a water-cooled 1.9 litre engine. The new engine combined the past (a Type 1 engine with water jackets) with the cooling system introduced with the diesel model.

VW attempted to bridge the gap between old and new by incorporating a safety cage and a more dynamic suspension. Many of the improvements that should have been incorporated such as better brakes, were left to VW of South Africa to sort out. After the 1991 models, VW stopped selling the T3 Transporter and Vanagon, leaving South Africa to build and refine on their own. (VWSA produced some 260,000 units before ending production.)

The T3 Transporter was manufactured until 2002 in South Africa. There it was marketed as the Microbus or Volksie Bus. Here are three ads featured David Kramer, hosted on You Tube: Microbus, Volksie Bus and Syncro Bus.

The last new T3 model was a special edition called the Microbus 2,6i Active. The Microbus was powered by a 2.6 litre, 100 kW five-cylinder powerplant. New standard features included improved interior lighting in the luggage area and a roof-mounted high-level brake light. The Active was essentially a Caravelle Exclusiv with special headlight grille and interior. The price of the Active was $195950 Rand, or approximately $27,000 USD.

The T3 is not thought of as a long-running platform, but it lasted 22 years!