1951 split oval barn find in Norway

[GTV]

[Kernow]

This is easily the best site for information. Thank you again for all your help in getting me up to date with what i have.
Unfourtunately for me I am doing this after I brought the Bug. No doubt if I had all the doors / engine / wheels /indicators in my bargaining corner I may have got a few Krone off it.
Still I know I havent lost money on it and allready I have had two offers of project busses that really I should take as it gets me rolling forward with my project.

[mbliss13]

So this story continues.....

Last year I was hunting for a split to purchase and came across a gentleman who owned a 1951 standard split in the UK. Deal was struck, car was shipped (arduous and expensive process), and is now in my possession in Northern California.

As I was searching the forums for anything related to Standard Splits, I came across this post and noticed the crown logo that matched what was on the car I purchased. I reached out to the original poster and learned that my car, and the car mentioned in this topic are one in the same....pretty cool!

So according to the birth certificate, this car was born on December 17, 1951 and was shipped as an L21 Pearl grey standard with no options from the factory. It was sold by the von Deschwanden dealership in Offenburg, Germany. Somehow it made its way to Norway and was the company car for the Farris Water Company. When it was too slow to be safely used, it was parked in a warehouse in the early 70's where it sat until the original poster found the car.

The car is actually remarkably solid. Of course it has the wrong door assemblies, bumpers, and engine, most but all else on the car seems to be original and matching. Original rear fenders, original front fenders (rf was cut to add the oval grill), original decklid, standard front hood, standard front seats, glass, matching Pan, body, front beam, and crashbox are all there. Still has the mechanical brakes and 5 16" wheels. Pans just have small pin holes near the battery area and it may need some lower pillar work on the body. No signs of major impact on the body but the rear bumper mounts have the typical corrosion

My plan for the car is to do a full restoration back to factory specs. To date, I have sourced the semaphores, bumpers, and have a fully complete 25hp from late October 1951 (not perfect but good enough). Marcus Raeke has told me that from the pictures of the original seat covers, the seat covers are "stripegrey" and that this is not a readily available fabric....not sure what to do on that, but I know that I want to restore it to as close to factory as possible.

Thought I would share the story and will keep you posted on progress! I am excited to be the owner of a standard split!

-Mike
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1951 Standard Beetle (German Delivery)
1954 Beetle, L275 Light Beige Survivor
1960 Beetle Convertible, L41 Black
1962 Beetle, L87 Pearl White with Judson/1200 power
1967 Beetle, L282 Lotus White

[René R.]

Congratulations! I look forward to your restoration updates.
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Gone but not forgotten: 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1966) - another 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1996)

[joel55bug]

Congrats on your score, welcome to the standard owners family. Looking forward to seeing some pictures of your car. Mark is one of the best sources when it comes to the fabric for these early cars. Here's a link to my thread on my Dec./51 standard I scored here in Texas a few years back: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=493900&highlight=standard+texas+hill+country.

Good luck on your hunt for those hard to find parts and your restoration.

[mbliss13]

So just a quick update on the 51 Standard! Last year I enlisted the artistry and expertise of Jason Wrenn @Wrenn Werks to complete all the metal work for the car. The metal work on the body is nearly complete.

Jason will be reassembling the standard front hood (deconstructed to eliminate all rust), reworking and fitting the split doors I sourced, resurrecting the fenders, then will focus on the pan work.

On the interior front, Marcus @ Wagenmanufactur is sourcing the 1951 stripegrey seat cloth and has reconstructed the standard front seat frames.

The car was all numbers matching except for the engine. After searching high and low, I was lucky enough with the help of my friend in Europe to source a complete Dec 1951 Engine from the same week of manufacture as my car. It rotates freely and all of the removeables are properly date coded for that engine. I can't tell you how fortunate I feel to have found that engine.

For those of you that have a facebook account, go to "Wrenn Werks" and look up the "51 standard beetle" photo album. I've added a few photos of the current progress for you to see.

I truly am blessed to have the expertise of Jason and his son on this project!

Cheers!
Mike

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1951 Standard Beetle (German Delivery)
1954 Beetle, L275 Light Beige Survivor
1960 Beetle Convertible, L41 Black
1962 Beetle, L87 Pearl White with Judson/1200 power
1967 Beetle, L282 Lotus White

[mbliss13]

Hello everyone!

Thought I'd provide another update. We are doing our best to do as much metal work based restoration so that the car will have minimal filler when it is time for paint. I think we will be ready to go to paint in the next few months.

Marcus Raeke has finished the interior for the car and sourced an absolutely perfect reproduction of the original 1951 stripegrey fabric that was in the car originally. I can't wait to get the interior installed...his work is second to none in my opinion.

The transaxle and beam are now fully restored complete and are ready for installation. See the before/after photos of the transaxle. Frank Espinoza helped me work with Rancho Transaxles to complete the full rebuild.

We tried to save the pan halves, but after media blasting, there was too much pitting, cracking, and damage to save them. We've sourced pan halves from Gerson and will be installing them shortly.

Enjoy the photos/update!

Mike

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1951 Standard Beetle (German Delivery)
1954 Beetle, L275 Light Beige Survivor
1960 Beetle Convertible, L41 Black
1962 Beetle, L87 Pearl White with Judson/1200 power
1967 Beetle, L282 Lotus White

[Stetoppingphoto]

Looking amazing! Well done
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stetoppingphoto

[mbliss13]

Another update on progress. These shots are of the completed body being test fit to the pan. Next up is door test fitment and body/paint. Enjoy!

-Mike

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1951 Standard Beetle (German Delivery)
1954 Beetle, L275 Light Beige Survivor
1960 Beetle Convertible, L41 Black
1962 Beetle, L87 Pearl White with Judson/1200 power
1967 Beetle, L282 Lotus White

[Grant Reiling]

Now it gets to the exciting phase. Congrats Mike; sure has been a long haul.
You're nearly to the finish line. Nice progress!
Carry on; and stay safe,
Grant
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1952 Azure Blue 12G (LHD Deluxe 3-fold sunroof Sedan).
"What you really know is possible in your heart is possible.
We make it possible by our will.
What we imagine in our minds becomes our world. That’s just one of many things I have learned from water."
Misaru Emoto
The Hidden Messages in Water

[tisius]

looks very clean!
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drive it like you just robbed the bank
you don't have to be crazy to be into VW's, but it sure helps!!
.... if it ain't dutch, it ain't much!

[heimlich]

That's some nice work.

How much did that split originally go for from the original poster?
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[David]

Love the workmanship in this build. Any updates?
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Cheers,
Dave

*October '54 Ragtop