TheSamba.com :: View topic - 1943 KDF-Wagen found in Norway

Thu May 05, 2011 10:01 am

About a year ago a friend of ours went to check out a totally rusted out split window double cab Type 2 that was advertised on a local website.

It turned out that the seller was a farmer that made a decent side-income by buying and selling used cars of all sorts. Mainly Japanese “consumables” from the 70ies and 80ies, but every now and then he would drag a vintage relic out of the woods and advertise on the “Norwegian Craiglist”…

The 60ies Type 2 double cab was more “earth than steel” and was not really interesting… Our friend checked out some other not-so-interesting cars and just before departure popped the question – “do you know of any other aircooled VWs in the area?”. –Well….I’ve got a splitwindow Beetle inside my barn here, says the farmer….”but I guess it is not for sale”.

Our friend went inside and found a sandblasted and rusted ’51 body resting on top of a sort of a restored Beetle chassis. Not so interesting at first sight…

Upon further inspection our friend spotted the small roller accelerator pedal and after looking in the “not-so-familiar-places” – he recorded a chassis number.

Ex-Owner, farmer and key-keeper to the barn:

[/img]

Thu May 05, 2011 10:09 am

On his way home, our friend called us and said; “I went to check out this Type 2 that turned out to be a piece of shit, but the guy has this beetle chassis that seems really old….”

“It has got a small roller pedal, lever shocks in the back and the chassis number sits right under the hand brake”, our friend tells us. – Well – what is it? …the chassis number…? Our friend says: “1-01996X”

- That must be a body-number!, we state …some digits must be missing…we tell him….It can’t be. “Well – go check it out yourself then” – our friend says.

With no time to spare - a few days later we head towards the mountains and the barn reveals….a split window shell on top of an old chassis.

We quickly check for "KDF-indicators"….the chassis number is in the correct location (under the hand brake)…of a totally original nature and quite correctly it reads “1-01996X”...

Our heart really starts pumping……it just can’t be. A Type 60 “low-style top officials only” wartime Beetle? We check for the other details…..the gas tank bracket mount, the heater controls… it all lines up. The pan-halves have been changed, the front suspension is a “normal Split”….but oh-my-lord…it is a genuine Type 60 KDF-Wagen chassis.

Thu May 05, 2011 10:15 am

8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

Thu May 05, 2011 10:18 am

So.... although not a whole "wagen" - it is definately the original tunell, possibly the gearbox and above all - the identity. The genuine chassis number and the definitive identity of a true wartime Beetle. The third of such to be found here in Norway, the two others being complete cars.

Through our contacts in Wolfsburg we quickly get word back - "you've found a moviestar!"

Chassis number -1-01996X- was produced on the 21st of May 1943, originally had a Beetle body with number between 500 and 550 and the delivery adress was.......not "the army material headquarters" (as most KDFs)....nor some high ranked Whermacht official.

On the 22nd of May 1943 this very Beetle was delivered to "Gaufilmstelle Hannover"...basically the propaganda-film-company of Hitler.

Over the last year we have researched most of the rest of the history of this car and it has also now found a new home with a very passionate restorer in Norway - stay tuned for more to this story.

http://eprints.rclis.org/bitstream/10760/9927/1/2007_Carlson_historische_Filmeditionen.pdf

Thu May 05, 2011 10:49 am

Amazing.

Maybe they'll find another KDF beetle in bin Laden's compound. :shock:

Thu May 05, 2011 11:00 am

So it's a 43 chassis with a later split window body, how do you decide which direction to restore it as an early car or a later one?

Thu May 05, 2011 11:06 am

spookymulder wrote: So it's a 43 chassis with a later split window body, how do you decide which direction to restore it as an early car or a later one?

That's a problem i would really like to have. Amazing!

Thu May 05, 2011 11:38 am

There is NO decision there....

spookymulder wrote: So it's a 43 chassis with a later split window body, how do you decide which direction to restore it as an early car or a later one?

Thu May 05, 2011 12:35 pm

BAJA! ;)

Thu May 05, 2011 1:06 pm

Very cool

Thu May 05, 2011 1:21 pm

[email protected] wrote: There is NO decision there....

spookymulder wrote: So it's a 43 chassis with a later split window body, how do you decide which direction to restore it as an early car or a later one? Oh, so it's going to be a fake and bake. :lol:

Thu May 05, 2011 1:33 pm

At the rate KDF Beetles are popping up lately, I'd just meticulously restore the chassis and in 2-3 years another (orange) KDF body on some hack-chassis will show up.....

Thu May 05, 2011 1:45 pm

Cool find!
I am also very interested how this is going to be restored..!

Thu May 05, 2011 1:48 pm

Ninamashr wrote: spookymulder wrote: So it's a 43 chassis with a later split window body, how do you decide which direction to restore it as an early car or a later one?

That's a problem i would really like to have. Amazing!

I dont think you really would like that .
Your entire ownership would be marked with the questions like "isn't that later body on a kdf chassis" , and if you could locate older kdf body questions would be "are you sure that is a matching body?"

So if you care what other people say and if that could brake your happiness for enjoying old vw car with history than you should avoid such experience

Thu May 05, 2011 3:33 pm

How cool is that! Nice to see the story of the "Norwegian KdF" appearing here. So the search for a suitable body is on. Makes me wonder what happened to the original body.... perhaps it ended up on a '70ies beetle chassis and became a Cal Look :-&

Good luck to the owner with the search!

Thu May 05, 2011 6:13 pm

Hey, I was born in 1996. You should let me have that thing :P

Thu May 05, 2011 6:59 pm

pretty cool find

Thu May 05, 2011 7:55 pm

These things are turning up everywhere now. First in Lithuania, now Norway. Haven't found any in Washington so far :(

Thu May 05, 2011 8:04 pm

I know the vin tag pic isn't very clear, but of the couple of 43's I've seen, the tag was welded in front of the shifter on the tunnel. I know on my 46 it's under the handbrake. After blowing the pic up to 400% I could swear it looks like a 7 instead of a 1. The chassis also has dual cylinder rear shock, I'm sure a replacement along with the rest of the changes or maybe it's just mt 55 year old eyes letting me down, I might just need some stonger bi-focals :wink:

Thu May 05, 2011 8:36 pm

veskovici wrote: Ninamashr wrote: spookymulder wrote: So it's a 43 chassis with a later split window body, how do you decide which direction to restore it as an early car or a later one?

That's a problem i would really like to have. Amazing!

I dont think you really would like that .
Your entire ownership would be marked with the questions like "isn't that later body on a kdf chassis" , and if you could locate older kdf body questions would be "are you sure that is a matching body?"

So if you care what other people say and if that could brake your happiness for enjoying old vw car with history than you should avoid such experience

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: