Not so standard, Standard.

[John cilia]

I am restoring a September 1949 Standard bug. It does however have all holes in body, hood and fender horn grills. I know standards were available with Delux body trim when ordered from factory.
My question is that there is no horn mount on body behind fender but there are the two front fender grills. Would VW mount the horn on bumper bracket ahead of horn grill ? Or are the horn grills just part of the Delux look on a Standard sedan ?
Any ideas ?

[sled]

it would be helpful if you could provide us all with some good photos of the car. I understand wanting to keep something under wraps, but pictures can go a long way in helping answer questions.

as far as the fenders go, are you 100% positive they are original to the car? is it possible they are from another split beetle? Unless the car is totally original paint and unmolested, it is sometimes difficult to authenticate original parts.
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drive your split.

[OvalinAz]

August is the new model year start? so it could be a deluxe?
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[John cilia]

That is my biggest concern that front fenders are not original standard ones but from a Delux.
I was trying too get confirmation if a Delux optioned Standard would also get the horn grills treatment but with the horn on the bumper bracket.

[John cilia]

Car is 100% a standard sedan and came in pearl gray paint.
All standard interior but optioned in Delux trim.

[EverettB]

[John cilia]

Here are some pics of my 49 Standard.

[Martin Southwell]

It seems that you have one of the 'Canadian Standards', a hybrid specific to Canada, which is a half way stage between being a Standard & a Deluxe. There is a fair bit written about the subject elsewhere on this site.

[John cilia]

According to my BC the car left factory to Manheim Germany. Dealer was Islinger.

[John cilia]

More unusual info on my car.
Front fenders appear to be original. They have the small horn grill slots for grill mounting but the driver side fender does not have the large hole for horn sound too pass through. Body does not have horn bracket either.
So it appears that horn was mounted on bumper bracket in front of the horn grill.

[Wiggy]

[Martin Southwell]

OK. So not a Canadian Standard! - I didn't know when they started, but purely a suggestion. VW's imported into Canada in 1952? That's a year before they started officially importing VWs into the UK in 1953.

I know someone who was in Canada in the very early 50's, and told me once about driving VWs there, and even test driving a new Tatra in the same period. Having not seen him for 5 years now, I ought to try and call him, to see if he is alive, and ask if he can recall dates of these things.

[nlorntson]

Why do you think it's a standard and not a true deluxe?

Deluxe versus standard is more about the amendments on the body than the chassis. For example, my 49 deluxe has mechanical brakes and of course lever shocks, but it also has adjustable seats, white pods and horn mounted behind the fender.

My take is that the deluxe is really just the body molding, pod coloring, how the seats were attached to the pan and a few other small modifications.

[John cilia]

This car is entirely a standard inside with a Delux trim outside except for horn on bumper.

[Wiggy]

[virtanen]

Can you post pics of rear quarter to see the molding holes? I see your doors have 6 clip holes, when original deluxe split door has 5 clips.

Could be a standard which was make up in Germany to look a deluxe. Quite common in those days.
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Mika
Split beetle restoration panels
Oval beetle restoration panels
New projects

[John cilia]

Thanks Mika. That's what Iam getting that info from my research.

[sled]

It seems pretty cut and dry from where I am sitting... the car is grey (standard) the fenders have the horn grills added (standard) there is no horn mount on the front 1/4 (standard) the trim holes may not have been drilled at the factory.

I say restore it to standard factory specs. If you like the look of a standard with trim and chrome hubcaps/headlight rings (very common on standards) then go that route.

Aside from all that, it looks like very good sheet metal to start with!
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drive your split.

[djfordmanjack]

drivers side fender seems to have no cutout for horn either. do both fenders have the 4 slots for the horn grill tabs ? if those slots were even spaced and look like factory stampings, that would be good indication for a factory installed DLX trim.
FWIW my ex 51 std with factory Dlx trim did have a horn bracket behind fender, but I can't say if it was factory installed or later added.
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[John cilia]

Yes both front fenders have the small slots for mounting horn grills and both were there.