Thanks for sharing. Speechless is how I'm left feeling. I owned a pre export 1949 beetle rescued from East Germany, fully running and driving which I stupidly sold. My biggest regret. That car was young compared to these beauties.
the VW beatle can be compared to the Ford Model T as an icon of the era in my opinion. I love this car, the engine is amazing in it's design compexity, as well as simplicity1
I’m so much like this man in so many ways , I was bitten 15 yrs ago with an intrigue over German engineering , excited over a car that’s in rough shape but see the potential and a challenge . W123 , affordable well built cars much like the VW of much earlier .
Love stuff like this. That would be amazing to see in person. Such an interesting early history that reaches back to an era of radically flawed and fatal politics and a ‘Reich’ that no longer exists. Strange to hear him say ‘Koenigsberg’ and ‘Russia’ given the area where one of the prototypes was found was once the German province of East Prussia....now the Russian Kaliningrad Oblast. Fascinating stuff....Even the sign...Reichssportfeld...that probably adorned the station in Berlin that led to the Olympic Stadium....that’s a priceless artefact to collectors too these days. A treasure trove of history there. Some of those cars are simply jaw-dropping in terms of their provenance and rarity...to VW people, probably like finding the Holy Grail in terms of cars...
Amazing! The attention to detail is astonishing. And what I like as well, is that they don’t brag about prices and values. They just collect and preserve. If this was an American collection, most likely every car would be “the most expensive” car, valued at a gazillion dollar.
Yeah, amazing... But I'm calling BS on that other statement, lots of good people in the USA have done much for preservation of these cars, and their history!
I remember that post on the samba when they found that car in the field. I was following the thread for a few years, then kinda lost it. I about fell off my chair when I saw this was that same car! So cool to see this bug shine now. I think I remember it had the gas filler cut into the roof, or something weird like that?
Glad to see the black car put together properly. I saw it in red and heavily modified on the samba, on a Volga chassis and so on, that car looks to be more correct than the ones owned by vw
Unglaublich tolle Sammlung, nur der Begriff "Beetle" ist falsch, das sind KdF Wagen, Kommandeurswagen, Vorstufen des KdF Wagen, Käfer, aber keine Beetle !
I read once & saw a real old documentary on these Vw’s. The reason they are shaped that way, is cause back then the shell was dipped in paint tanks then rolled out by overhead chain system. The shape would save a lot of paint /time & was more efficient cost saving.👍🍺
In a way, that was the idea Henry Ford had about painting Model T cars. The application of paint was with a tool that looked like a large upholstery tool for a vacuum cleaner with a large hose. As the car body came down the line, the paint was flowed onto the car, and the excess ran into a tank under the assembly line, where it was pumped back into the nozzle. They estimated that 5 gallons of paint were flowed over the car, and the result was a very smooth finish, and the workers did not need to be highly skilled to do the job.
It's design is a result of the 1930's styling that was prevalent at the time, and the fact that a rear air cooled engine made for simpler mechanics to make the car cheaper.
That is amazing!! My Dad was in the US Army in the war, and one day he found a Kubelwagen. He got it running and drove it as the army advanced. He said that it had 4 wheel steering so that the car could turn around on narrow streets. He said that the car just pivoted around the center of the car and he thought it was great. Unfortunately, it developed carburetor trouble and he could not take to time to repair it as the convoy was traveling quickly. He had to destroy it so he used an incendiary grenade to do the job, but you can't leave anything behind that the enemy might be able to use.
@@StarfleetCommand71 Thanks. I often wondered about that. I had never heard of a 4 wheel steering Kubelwagen, and I thought that the one my Dad "liberated" was an experimental model, but your explanation makes a lot of sense.
@@garylangley4502 They made many different prototypes. But in the lists I have found I never saw one with 4-wheel steering. The Kubelwagen didnt even have 4-wheel drive. But they made some prototypes and special models with 4-wheel drive. But only in small numbers.
Fabulous! Many of the plans for prototype jets and such survived also only because individual engineers did not destroy all the bits and plans of their pet projects.
The car with no chrome and none of fancy nickel plated at all. Just basic and cheap Horch & Cie car in made in 1925 that was sold new to a lot of customers in during the 1930's and they have radiator cooled engine at front of its chassis at wheelbase around 100 inches and not longer and it comes with 50 HP engine and not bigger CID. It has two doors for convertible German front engine coupe. Only the rich German were able to afford any car in during 1920's and 1930's. 1915 Hispano-Suiza up to 1920 Hispano-Suiza H6B 4 seat Boulogne were common in Germany Autobahn with engine at not more 40 HP.
Did you ever see the VW that was dragged out of the hedge by Late Brake Show. It was an Oval rear window. It's a 'buck' guys, correct metal work term. Didn't they shorten the SchwimmWagen as it was a bit rough in the water?
When I was 16, I had the chance to buy a 1957 VW bus for $75 from a used car dealer. I drove it and it would only do about 55 mph top end and that was pushing the engine to the max. It was just too slow for a kid like me. So I passed on it. Now, I can only imagine what that bus is worth today. That dealer also had a 1954 Packard 2-door hardtop coupe for $125. It was a red and white two-tone with a red and white interior. It was really pretty. Of course, it had a straight-eight engine with a manual trans and overdrive. I didn't buy that either. Ultimately, I ended up buying a 1963 Austin Healey 3000 for $1,300 in 1966. That would go 130 mph without breaking a sweat. I loved that car.
Oddly enough....Henry Ford in his vanity and close mindedness also turned down management of the VW factory ....the car that would eventually outsell the model T.
Have to laugh when this clearly expert a most knowledgeable guy in this Field finishes a sentence “ You know “ He’ll no I don’t know , just a great humble guy .
I would relate visiting and viewing his collection to a Muslim attending Mecca or a Christian visiting Jerusalem. I think I'd take a knee or two upon visiting The 38.
...Jay Leno's Garage of Germany :)....seriously, though...one thing Traugott and Christian truly have in common with Jay Leno, is their absolute love and hands-on relationship with their cars....
Very cool! I worked for a small VW dealership in Winnipeg Canada back in the 1980's with one of the mechanics originally from Germany. He had many stories about the vw history. I bought a red 1969 bettle from a customer, with it needing a engine reseal and a few other items. Engine ended up dropping a valve. Sold it to one of the other mechanics. I wish I still had it.
Y'all wanna take a guess as to which early VW(s) he's still looking for. He told the interviewer he didn't want to mention which Ines, remember? I have an idea and it may still exist becuz it was so remarkable that SOMEONE back then would have wanted to save it in a barn, a cave or maybe some safe warehouse away from the Allied bombs?
@@persimonsen8792 - EXACTLY!!! IMO I think he is searching for Hitlers Cabrio, although all the reports say it was destroyed along with all the other KDf's and Vdubs in 1942 for the Nazi war effort. However, from this museum tour we now know that all pf them were not destroyed, so I honestly think he has a lead (or leads) on that Cabrio(s) the Porche specificaly made for his friend Adolf. If it's out there I'll bet he finds it. Those things are as rare as the Hitler Lego minifigures made in the 1930s.
@@denismorrison4772 Hitlers cabriolet does exist, but it's not been seen in the vw museum for a while now, these are the the known VW38 prototypes known to have survived.
I have one of the 4 pieces in Indonesia. vw safari year 1973 full original without paint on the body. and I want to sell it this year. who knows you are interested?? Hehee..
My dream Type 1 would be early cabriolet, semaphores, Original 15" Fuchs all polished like sterling silver on Z rated Yokohamas, disc brakes, 6 speed manual, 2.0 liter with 48's, black lacquer paint, wool carpet, dark Harrtz cloth top, mohair headliner. It would be sacrilegious to do any Chinese hacks on such works of art in my opinion. My mods are all reversible. Back in the late 1980's I sold an unrestored complete running 1952 cabriolet type 1 to Mike Hornbecker of Manhattan Beach, California. It was 90% correct with the heart shaped tail light lense's in a box in the back seat. I didn't have the money to keep it unfortunately and passed it on to Mike, my neighbor. If it was a hardtop it would have been a split window. The original owner, an elderly lady living in Palos Verdes, California remembered me out of hundreds of askers if "she would sell it", sold it to me for $1,000. God, how much I wanted to keep that jewel. Another friend from Hermosa Beach, Ebberhart had a 1947 type 2 that was complete but rough.
Well laugh at me. I thought this was going to be a video about a Beatle, the animal type. I thought hmmmm this might be interesting. Well, now I see there is a part one and like any kid wo grew up driving in the 60s, I loved the Beatles.
@@francis8062 I know they had a law suit against VW that got settled, but there were similar cars around at that time, just as today there are many similarities between manufacturers today.
I worked in Hermosa Beach, California at a hi end car dealer in 1980's. We had at one time 7 300 SL Gullwings. They were valued at $45,000 to $65,000 back then. Almost daily there were accidents on P.C.H. from people rubbernecking our cars!