Hitlers Convertible

[earlesurfs]

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?

[finster]

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)
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"we're here on Earth to fart around" kurt vonnegut

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

[earlesurfs]

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!

[splitjunkie]

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.
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Chris

You know, a lot of these scratches will buff right out... Jerry Seinfeld

[Undis]

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.
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[Who.Me?]

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?
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Andy


Looking for info on my truck's history. Are you from Campbell California or nearby. Do you recognise it? ... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=636786

[Undis]

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.
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[finster]

here's the article about it

[banana split]

Wow! I'm surprised at how many miles (kilometres) were put on this Beetle in it's lifetime.
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My Beetles :
1951 Crotch Cooler 11G Split Ragtop
1953 Zwitter
1964 Chop Top

[piet&som]

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...
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Oval 54 Light Beige, Oval 53 Metalblue.

[EverettB]

[Who.Me?]

Thanks for the history info.
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Andy


Looking for info on my truck's history. Are you from Campbell California or nearby. Do you recognise it? ... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=636786

[Stetoppingphoto]

[finster]

perhaps we could petition vw to put it on show?
_________________
"we're here on Earth to fart around" kurt vonnegut

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

[cory464]

[splitjunkie]

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.


Link

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Chris

You know, a lot of these scratches will buff right out... Jerry Seinfeld

[Stetoppingphoto]

[sgmalt46]

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
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66 beetle
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46 beetle 552nd royal army service corps CCG

[splitjunkie]

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.
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Chris

You know, a lot of these scratches will buff right out... Jerry Seinfeld

[sleepywiesel]

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.
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'59 beetle
'60 beetle