LUSARAP

Brazil: the country of carnivals, indescribable beauty adjacent to abject poverty, Ayrton Senna and old Volkswagen models. Only theyre not old â€" theyre new, theyre just based on old designs. The original Beetle continued production there long after it had been phased out elsewhere, but the original Kombi van has lasted much longer. That ends today, however, with the iconic VW Microbus ambling out of production on the last day of 2013.

VW kept making the van in Brazil with the original air-cooled 1.2-liter boxer four until 2005, after which the original design was updated with a 1.4-liter water-cooled engine. Today, however, it ultimately falls prey to safety regulations that mandate that all vehicles â€" no matter how old their design â€" need to have airbags and ABS, forcing Volkswagen do Brasil to cease production of the Microbus after a 56-year production run. But the latest word is that the Kombi (as its presently known) could get a stay of execution â€" or at least a resurrection in short order.

According to reports, the Brazilian government is looking into granting the Type 2 Microbus an exemption from said safety regulations, reasoning that the van was designed long before the advent of airbags and ABS. If the measure goes through, the Kombi Last Edition (pictured above) could prove not to be the last at all. So what do you think, should the Microbus get an exemption from Brazilian safety regulations for nostalgias sake? Vote in our poll below, then have your say in Comments.

A few more Ford trucks will be built in the US in the near future with news that production of the F-650 and F-750 medium-duty trucks will move from Mexico to Fords Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake, OH. Ford hasnt confirmed a precise timeline for the move, but The Detroit News claims the Blue Oval will make the shift later this year or in early 2015.

As Ford spokesperson Mike Levine reminded us, back in 2011, Ford announced in an investor release that it would shift production "after the [Ohio] plant stops current production of the Ford E-Series vans." According to that release, the Ohio factory will also receive $128 million in upgrades to build the new trucks, plus the F53 motorhome chassis and F59 commercial chassis.

The trucks are currently built in Escobedo, Mexico, as part of a joint venture with Navistar International. The Kansas City Assembly Plant in Kansas City, MO will begin building the new Transit van. The shift is part of Fords long-term plan to move more commercial vehicle production to the US because it, "will be able to streamline and strengthen the engineering and manufacturing of our next-generation medium-duty trucks," said then-Ford President Mark Fields in the 2011 release. According to The Detroit News, Ford will issue a more detailed release about the shift in production on February 28.