Announcing: The ID. Buzz Pop Top!

Inside of Peace Vans, we call ourselves many things - an outdoor lifestyle company, a camper van company, a family of businesses focused on road tripping, etc. In many ways, you can also say we are a Pop Top Camper Van company. For all that we do, one of the most iconic and unifying elements of our core businesses is working on camper mobiles that have a pop top.

In many ways, this pop top focus is simply a function of our circumstances - we started as a VW Camper Van repair and restoration shop, and long before the advent of larger vans and such on the camper van scene, a pop top was the only way to sleep four (or more!) comfortably and create more living space. The history of pop tops and VWs are intertwined all the way back to the very beginnings of the VW bus. In the early years there were all sorts of variants - from the small “mushroom” tops, the cool side opening tops from Dormobile and even some very innovative tops like the infamous Vacation Wayfarer top from the Flxible Company which was a freakin’ boat as the top!(Note: we are so lucky to have an impeccably restored version of this bus a block away from us, and it is incredible!).

At Peace Vans, we are passionate about keeping that pop top dream alive. The tree house feel, the surprise nature of the feature, the “in it, but not in it” vibe is unlike anything else and the views are truly to die for. And, the kids - sure, as an adult to climb into a pop top is almost a way of going back in time. But for a kid, there’s a truly magical hold on them when that pop top's up and you tell them they can go hide out up there. As much of the world moves on to bigger vans and traditional RVs, we remain committed to small, garageable, camper vans and to integrate a pop top whenever we can.

And, that brings us to today’s enormous news. If you’ve been following us on social media, it’s no secret we’ve been working on a pop top for VW’s new ID. Buzz. Back in late 2024 when we fully committed to the ID. Buzz as a platform we were focusing on, we knew there had to be a pop top for it - but, honestly, the project seemed daunting for our small but mighty team. Having installed almost 1,000 pop tops for the Mercedes Metris, and having gone through the extensive safety and engineering requirements for that project - we knew it was a difficult undertaking. We deeply value the process of partnerships, so we reached out to our partner on the Metris pop tops (the SCA division of the global composites company, C. F. Meier) and scoped the project. Building a pop top from scratch that meets safety standards, has the right OEM aesthetic, and functions with grace all while being rugged and tough to last 20 years, would be a big project. In February of 2025, we signed the contract and wired the money. While we could have done this ourselves, our partners (and friends) and CF Meier are the global leaders in these things and they know the process, regulations, and intricacies inside and out. To say there are significant nuances in such a project is an understatement.

Fast forward ten months, and last week we found ourselves on the windswept plains of eastern Colorado test fitting the pop top on one of our ID. Buzzes. While we had seen CAD models, and had video calls with the German teams who developed the prototypes and installed the first article in Germany, there was a true moment of joy when the top was fitted to our Buzz, and then, the next morning when we came in and were able to climb up and be transported back in time to all the pop tops we’ve lived and slept in - from T1 splitties to T2 Bay windows, our beloved T3 Vanagons, the quirky T4s and our successful Metris campers.

We can’t wait to roll these pop tops out to a whole new generation of VW owners. We are incredibly proud of what we created - it’s an incredibly high-quality product, looks great, functions perfectly and we truly hope it inspires a whole new generation of pop top memories.

We are already sold out through at least April for the pop tops, but we would love nothing more than to continue that momentum and excitement. To support that, we’ve decided to offer a very limited special on these (and, if you follow Peace Vans you know that we almost never run price specials). Our current price is $15,995 installed at our HQ in Seattle, WA. If you place an order in the next 30 days (January 15th) we will offer a $1,000 discount and two free nights camping at our amazing, private, Olympic Peninsula campsite after you pick so you can test out the top. Read all about the details of making a deposit and connecting with us here.

What an awesome privilege to make our own pop top for this next generation of the iconic VW bus. We feel so lucky and we hope you are as excited as us.

Harley and the entire Peace Vans team...

PS - Want a pop top on a Sprinter or other large van? We do that too...