A 1955 Volkswagen Microbus was recently sold at auction for $235,000 -- the most anyone has ever paid at auction for a VW bus, according to CNN Money. 

The CNN Money report, published Dec. 5, did not say when the auction in Germany was held.

The VW bus initially went into production in 1950, according to History.com, which calls the vehicle an "icon of [the] counterculture movement."

According to History.com:  

"The bus eventually collected a number of nicknames, including the 'Combi' (for combined-use vehicle) and the 'Splittie' (for its split windshield); in Germany it was known as the 'Bulli.' In the U.S., it was referred to by some as a hippie van or bus because it was used to transport groups of young people and their camping gear and other supplies to concerts and anti-war rallies. Some owners painted colorful murals on their buses and replaced the VW logo on the front with a peace symbol. According to 'Bug' by Phil Patton, when Grateful Dead musician Jerry Garcia died in 1995, Volkswagen ran an ad featuring a drawing of the front of a bus with a tear streaming down it."