First Beetle in US , WWII trophy

[Manfred58sc]

I've been reading Kenneth Roses's "Myth and the Greatest Generation" book on WWII. He mentions a story on page 37 of a GI who sent home a VW during the war ( in various crates and boxes) as a souvenir. This seems like an amazing story, but I could not find more information on it. Anyone else heard this tale?

I know the army had collected various machines during the war, I wonder if any of them made it back to the US and ended up in the grey market.
_________________
Fat chick owner/operator

[finster]

perhaps the clue is in the title of the book?
interesting idea though - is that all the info? what year, location etc...of course it could refer to a car sent back for evaluation like the kubel sent to the us army's proving ground in maryland in mid 42.
_________________
"we're here on Earth to fart around" kurt vonnegut

nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect...

[Joe 20]

Ya, there has always been stories about "a guy's brother's friend" mailed home a jeep piece by piece when he was overseas. When I was young, it was the war surplus jeep in a crate for $25.00. Nobody ever actually saw one though.

I would however think the Army may have sent a couple VW's home for testing like they did that kubel. Probably went to the scrap heap or a museum a long time ago. Does Aberdeen have a museum? If not maybe the Patton museum at Ft. Knox.

[Bulli Klinik]

Manfred, I've heard this story in the past as well. I think I might have read about it in the book Small Wonder?
_________________
I've never met a Bus I didn't like.
Mike K
Bulli Klinik
Colorado Springs

[Floating VW]

I can believe it. VW prototype #3806 (one of only three known surviving examples of the 40+ VW38 prototypes made in 1938) was found in a farmer's field in Lithuania a few years ago. It was most likely taken there from Germany as a spoil of war by a Russian soldier on his way back from the front. And this particular car once belonged to Dr. Robert Ley, head of the DAF and one of Hitler's favorite henchmen.

So I would actually be more surprised if a couple of regular old KDF-wagens didn't get sent back to the States by American GIs during the war. I don't know about shipping it back piece by piece, but I can totally see an officer pulling some strings to get it done.
_________________
"It's time you started treating people as individuals, rather than mathematically predictable members of an aggregate set, regardless of how well that works."

[Dave]

In the book "Small Wonder" by Walter Henry Nelson, there is a photograph of what was supposed to be the oldest Bug in the US, VW had a contest to find it, and it was a 1945..
_________________
2003 Samba Chummie Winner- Best Story

"Those that matter, don't mind,
and those that mind, don't matter"

[janerick3]

The 1945 VW pictured was actually the last VW produced in calendar year 1945 (1-053814). It was brought over by a GI in the late 1940s and ended up on a Nebraska farm.

Dave Crompton restored it in the mid-1980s for VW and repainted it in the original flat green color. There is a recent thread on the car.
_________________
Thanks,
Jan K.

[Joe 20]

Then that would make it one of the British beetles post war wouldn't it?

[Manfred58sc]

The author suggests that Heller's "Catch 22" environment was closer to the truth than most would like to admit. The souvenir taking by GI's was extreme compared to other troops. Large items were taken and transported under the loose inventory system of the time ( "dead heading" was to be avoided). Check out "class six" procurement..

Outside of the size, the weights involved are not that high if it went as naval freight. The car could be dismantled in a day with a couple friends. The author did include this during the war period , not the post war.
_________________
Fat chick owner/operator

[finster]

[modok]

The army certainly did obtain some VW's, and study them, a field manual was written. You should look that up if you haven't read it.

They were probably used as target practice later on.

[Tom K.]

Here it is, recently at the V&A Museum in London.

_________________
'91 Vanagon Westfalia
'70 Beetle Convertible
'71 Super Beetle Semi-Automatic: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=714131&highlight=
'65 Ghia: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=762478&highlight=

[LeeE]

MeadowBrook Concours '86
_________________
1978 Westfalia stock 2.0 FI
Welcome to the Okeedokee Swamp