ROCO was founded in 1960 by Mr. and Mrs. Roessler after Mr. Roessler recognized that plastic injection moulding (which was quite a new development then) made it possible to manufacture models with greater detail compared to the metal models that were produced at the time. Initially ROCO made Minitank models only but entered the model railroading market a few years later with HO and O-scale models. Models in N-scale models followed in 1965.
In 2002 the company, which was privately held, was sold and extensive investments and modernization measures turned ROCO into one of the most modern manufacturing plants in the model railway industry. Unfortunately, the investments also led to high indebtedness which ultimately resulted in a bankruptcy in the early summer of 2005. In July 2005 the ROCO assets and trade name were bought by Modelleisenbahn GmbH, this new company will continue production of the ROCO models.
ROCO produced a 1/87 scale VW Bus in the Kombi model. They used WIKING molds to produce these models. The VW Busses were either unmarked or marked with the KORONA or LINDE surrogate coffee products in the 1960s.
A two piece plastic VW Kombi Barndoor Bus with solid windows similar to the WIKING VW Bus. The top section has details of the split windshield, four side windows, rear window and the front VW emblem. The lower section has details of raised headlight circles and front bumper. The lower section forms the plain looking chassis and the knobby plastic wheels, different colors, are pushed on the metal axles which are attach into the chassis. The top and lower sections are attached together with glue and there is a slight separation or gap noticed at the front section. There is the number 16 in a circle marking on the chassis.
