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Sat Sep 14, 2024 10:10 am

I just noticed that the convertible Dr. Ferdinand Porsche gave to St. Hitler for his 50th birthday had smooth chrome bumpers and the one in the museum has black ribbed bumpers.
Am I missing something?
Are they the same car?

Sat Sep 14, 2024 11:37 am

yes, vw 38/31 but restored with poor attention to authenticity.

don't know what the latest news is but it was away being restored (again)

Sun Sep 15, 2024 6:13 am

Thank you for the information and the update on the car.
If there was any car in the world I could own, it would be that convertible!

Tue Sep 17, 2024 5:50 am

What Finster said. A lot of those early factory restorations were pretty inaccurate if not terrible. The last I saw anything about that car was when the Grundmans were granted access to it as reference material for the restoration of VW38 number 6. I think it was mentioned at that time that the museum wasn't planning on displaying it again, due to the hitler connection.

The factory museum has restored VW38 number 3 a couple of times, and is currently much better than it was for many years. Still not perfect, and never will be, but much better. And most of the newer restorations at the Autostadt museum and the Shiftung museum are done to a very high level.

Wed Sep 18, 2024 12:57 am

The early restorations done by VW left a lot to be desired when it comes to correctness and authenticity. Often, they used new parts from the parts bin of the day. We still see the effects of this today.

Despite undergoing a “restoration” in 1954 where some of the original details were lost, the body is still in very good shape and provided invaluable reference at time when VW38/06 was being restored.

Thu Sep 19, 2024 12:10 am

I searched and found another thread on here that mentions the car turned up in a dealer lot in the 1950s, but I couldn't find anything about where it was prior to that.
Is anything known about its post-war ownership and use before its (re)discovery?

Thu Sep 19, 2024 2:02 am

Car 31 was used around Hitler’s Obersaltzberg residence, often by his partner Eva Braun. It likely led a different life compared to other VW38 cars and somehow survived the war and the early post-war years.

The car was purchased as a low mileage car by its second owner an engineer from Heppenheim in June 1945 after the US forces had requisitioned it at Obersaltzberg. He drove it for about 250,000 Km.

The car was sold on to its third owner and driven another 180,000 Km between 1951 and 1954.

A car dealer then purchased and restored it before selling it to the fifth owner who travelled Italy and Austria with it.

A sixth owner drove it another 80,000 Km before trading it in at a VW dealer in Munich in April 1956. After that car 31 went to the Volkswagen museum where it has remained since.

Thu Sep 19, 2024 5:40 am

here's the article about it
finster wrote: article in stern magazine '72 - previous owners of vw 38/31. the first picture is incorrect as it shows the foundation ceremony car :roll:

Thu Sep 19, 2024 9:17 am

Wow! I'm surprised at how many miles (kilometres) were put on this Beetle in it's lifetime.

Thu Sep 19, 2024 9:36 am

Once in Bad Camberg 6-24-1995, Herbert Kaes was invited at the stage for an interview. Afterwards, when he walked into the crowd I asked him for a signature. Very kindly he signed a small companycard of mine. But after that we started to have a little conversation. All of a sudden he reached for his wallet and took out a picture of H.'s convertible, black and white offcourse. In blue ink written at the back of the photo it said: "Mein persönliche cabrio A.H".
I'll never forget that moment...

Thu Sep 19, 2024 12:09 pm

piet&som wrote: ... he reached for his wallet and took out a picture of H.'s convertible, black and white offcourse. In blue ink written at the back of the photo it said: "Mein persönliche cabrio A.H".

WOW. I hope he kept it in some sort of plastic protective sleeve or something safe from weather

Fri Sep 20, 2024 12:38 am

Thanks for the history info. :thumbsup:

Fri Sep 20, 2024 2:24 am

Undis wrote: Car 31 was used around Hitler’s Obersaltzberg residence, often by his partner Eva Braun. It likely led a different life compared to other VW38 cars and somehow survived the war and the early post-war years.

The car was purchased as a low mileage car by its second owner an engineer from Heppenheim in June 1945 after the US forces had requisitioned it at Obersaltzberg. He drove it for about 250,000 Km.

The car was sold on to its third owner and driven another 180,000 Km between 1951 and 1954.

A car dealer then purchased and restored it before selling it to the fifth owner who travelled Italy and Austria with it.

A sixth owner drove it another 80,000 Km before trading it in at a VW dealer in Munich in April 1956. After that car 31 went to the Volkswagen museum where it has remained since.

Love how much information you have on the very interesting VW38 cars Undis. I've been to Wolfsburg twice now but unfortunately never been able to see the cab. I know it used to be on display at one point.

Fri Sep 20, 2024 3:44 am

perhaps we could petition vw to put it on show?

Fri Sep 20, 2024 6:14 am

finster wrote: perhaps we could petition vw to put it on show?

Unfortunately, those of us who would enjoy it for the correct reasons are in the minority. People who would celebrate the car for the wrong reasons are far more common and VW cannot risk being associated with that crowd.

Fri Sep 20, 2024 8:59 am

Great post Undis, as usual.

Sounds a little like hitler's cloak that ended up in the US and the owner didn't realize the original owner.

Mon Sep 30, 2024 4:05 am

cory464 wrote: finster wrote: perhaps we could petition vw to put it on show?

Unfortunately, those of us who would enjoy it for the correct reasons are in the minority. People who would celebrate the car for the wrong reasons are far more common and VW cannot risk being associated with that crowd.

Maybe Volkswagen can roll it out for us vintage nerds on the HO weekend in 2026.

Fri Oct 04, 2024 11:18 am

keeping it from public view is ridiculous. not like a bunch of hamas
nazi's are going to celebrate an old Volkswagen :? .that just is silly. (being nice)
not just that if you ignore the past it is bound to repeat itself.
better off learning about history not shoving it in in a closet.
sad to see it hidden from view . glad I seen it back in the 90's

Sat Oct 05, 2024 9:11 am

Yeah, I don't get it. Hitler's hands are all over the existence of VW in the first place. Not to mention all of the concentration camp workers who built cars and whatever else they were forced to do for VW during the war and the brutal treatment of prisoner's children at Kinderheim, to name a few.

He didn't even drive, so at best he was a passenger in the car. There are several war time Klubels and Schwimmers at their museums, and I'm sure the people who used them were monsters too, so unless they had witnessed hilter worshipers doing inappropriate things around the car, I think it should be on display. It's a very significant car, no matter who owned it.

Sun Oct 06, 2024 5:28 am

I'm pretty sure that is has something to do with image.
VW doesn't want to show a car which represents a direct connection between the company and Hitler.
They did show the car in the past, but back then the vintage car scene was not that important for the company as it is today.

I have been to the VW museum in Wolfsburg several times. But I haven't seen any relevant information about their history apart from the cars. No information about forced labor, no further information about the weapons they produced in the factory during the war.

And this is a problem wich even new (car) museums in germany have. When I went to this prototype museum in hamburg I hat the impression that they are selling the late thirties and early fourties as a nice time. Old cars, some nice accessory and a lot of nice words about Ferdinand Porsche (He even designed hydro power plants, what a nice guy!). Not one word about the weapon systems he designed, no information about the people which built the Kubel and Schwimmwagen in their collection.

It's all about "Hey, just let's not talk about it. We don't want to give our visitors a bad feeling". Just like the germans did in the 50s and 60s.
The reasons may differ. Companies want to sell cars, some people want to live in ther idyllic car world. But in both cases there is a lack of responsibility.

I'm sorry that I cannot find better words for it. There are good examples around as well of course which are very aware of their own history and the history of their exhibitions.

And I really appreciate that you guys have a sophisticated view of the Hitler convertible. That is nice to know.