This is a mass produced Beetle AFTER WW2 fitted with some older Parts (1949 - 1953).You can see it in preparation for the right-hand drive version in sheet metal.
@@kingofpentacles3213 I think he's referring to the vertical panel forward of the pedals. It has the pressing for where the dimmer switch goes on a RHD car. The no ashtray could mean the dash is a Standard.
@@georgebamber6871 If the car was being used on the street in Germany in the 60s, semaphores were illegal by then, so it was common for the slots to be filled in.
@@e-curb Either filled in with some welded steel and painted "en suite" with the car of a piece of chromium-plated pressed steel was bolted over the opening.
All early beetles had no indicators at the wings but spring-loaded ones that popped out from the B-column. Basically they were a rectangular metal frame with a yellow or orange light in them that was visible from behind and the front but not from the side. When that was seen to be a danger to cyclists and bikers the indicators got there where we expect them to find in modern cars. The old ones were taken out and the hole in the column was closed with a ( chromium plated) piece of metal. Can it be that this strange object with its welding in it is such an early B-column?
I remember years ago when I worked at a concert venue they had grateful dead and phish concerts. All the cars were Vw bugs and vans.You could see cars with tags from every state in the country because they had people that traveled the country with the bands
Who the Hell in his right mind would let this car out in the rain!! The earliest one I worked on was a 1948 still in the family who bought it new. But everyone, even people without any car knowledge should know better than to let it sit outside! I hope you can get hold of this car and try to do it justice by making it as original as possible.
Dear Misses Supermarci 👍👌👏 Really nice to meet you here! I just recently found this channel because of the 1940 one of a kind Mercedes Benz Rometsch/Beeskow/Erdmann und Rossi cabriolet konglomerat. Best regards luck and health to all of you.
Cool find. I still have my first car. A 1967 VW with a moon roof, Crank open sun roof. Been threw thee engines and right now has a brand new rebuilt in it but it's been sitting for over 30 year. Probably never get back to fixing it up, getting old with a bad back. Love them BUGS....
Sounds like a bit of a bitsa, however, it has the bones of the original car and many original parts, so definitely worth restoring, if the ownership elements can be resolved. Thanks for sharing.
It just looks like a Frankenbug. There's definitely early sheet metal, but it looks pieced together from a lot of different cars. Beyond pan and body numbers, I don't see how anyone can definitively say what it is. I think it's probably worth more in parts than as a complete car at this point.
@@greasycock455 Oh, I'm sorry that you're not smart enough to get a job that pays you well enough to buy a real German made vintage VW. Keep working at it, kid. Maybe you'll get there someday. In the meantime, have fun with your Brazilian Super Junk! Gas flaps and BIG windows, FTW!!!1!1!!
I have struck this situation myself several times. Where someone is selling a car which isn't their's. Sometimes the car has changed owners because of unpaid bills. In one instance i came across a pair of really desirable Mercedes, both had been partially restored at huge expense,but the real owner was locked up in Prison. i didn't touch them and I'm glad I didn't because the owner resurfaced and is still hunting for his cars...which will turn up .
Standingin the rain....,hopefully it gets a good owner ones. I have a 1940 Opel Kadett cabrio- limousine. Its not in the rain. Still collecting original parts for the car. Germany is next door so thats easy. Regards from the Battle of the Bulge area, Belgium.
Does it still have its woodgas-generator? I am just joking. In a TV-infotainment show they asked people whether there still was one of those around in operational order and someone contacted them and said "yes, he had one". The station sent a camera-team to his farmyard at the North-Frisian coast and what he brought to life fuming and sputtering was a 1938 model Opel Kapitän.
The company is Ferdinand Porsche that build the front end suspension with four torsion round bars, each is clamped the bar's end with its teeth torq-bit male and second end also have teeth (metal) that is engaged to one of control trailing arm's teeth around its near end. The upper control trailing arm also is connect to the upper torsion bar at driver side. Along with driver side lower control trailing arm connect to the lower torsion bar. That the torsion bar is inside the tubular-pipe/front end chassis. Then two more torsion bars for passenger side spindle linking to the front end suspension (upper and lower control trailing arms). The Type 12 was longer wheel base than the 1943 Beetle. Two models were made in Stuttgart: one was open-top cabriolet and other model is closed sedan type 60. It became shorter wheel base than type 12 in 1932 A.D. It has no rear window and headlamps were fitted into atop the front hood. Most of the Volkswagen wagon were color black. Thanks for working like a Volkswagen Lifers.
My friend has a Type 87 and has also no winker. The B-column is so like from 1960 to 64. It happened, as much as I know, if the car was used in war. So turning winkers were not important.
Very interesting! I once saw a WW2 German news film that for a split second showed the back end of a beetle in the snow in Russian that they had built a fire under the engine to liquify the oil. Probably a Commander Wagen
In the wartime publication of the Kubel's operating handbook, for use in Russia in the winter they instruct the soldiers to thin engine oil with gasoline!
German mobility at the eastern front had become low during the first "Russlandwinter". Nearly half the motors had cracked despite anti-freeze in the cooling water. Universal joints had given up when the wheels had sunk in the mud. More and more military transport relied on cart and horses. That was what the newsreels were not to show. The irony of that experience is that when West-Germany was re-armed after 1955/6 the staff in the newly formed army procurement offices all seemed to have been young officers at the Russian front and with that traumatic memories ordered monsters like the "Magirus" lorry that could run on ANY fuel from petrol to hair-oil on ANY surface! It took an entire generation to pass until logical reasoning won. Of course you need all-wheel-drive lorries in the forces but the bulk of logistics is carried out on normal roads in mid-European weather and for that you can as well buy ordinary vehicles from the serial production .
Nickname "Brezel". Tiny split windows can be found in many cars from that period. Just think of that American-style beauty "Opel Kapitän" from 1938/9 to the early 40s, and then again after slight refits in style from 1951 or so.
Many decades ago,l saw a bug,l was told it was a 46, I swear it had a tiny oval window,not a split and not the later oval like a 57 would have,is that possible?
Back in 1990 or so my wife and I took an alternate way home from grocery shopping though Epping New Hampshire. What do my eyes spot, an early beetle sitting covered in a driveway. No one was home so we poked around a bit and it was an early and complete KDF beetle. Blade bumpers with banana overriders, 16" wheels, cog wheel hub caps, the whole deal. We wrote a note with my contact info and stuck it in the door hoping for a call. Next grocery shopping outing we went the same way and the beetle was gone. Did it get sold? Did they move it out of sight somewhere? But it was complete and solid and I would have loved to own it. I started with the VW disease in 1968 where I worked at a VW only repair shop. My employer and I would scour back alley ways buying all the split beetles we could find. Best score was a 1945 for $35. He was also in business with Bill Collins who together would buy early splits in Europe and have them shipped back to the states. Bill Collins was the person responsible for the "Return to the Fatherland" tour in 1999 and a NHVWC club member. FWIW, the 45 went to a doctor in Arizona who did restore it. VW life friends
Some great stories! I joined up with Bill and the caravan at the start in Long Beach and drove along in my split for a while …always wished I could have gone the whole way. Dr Dick Christiansen did a great job with the 45, as well as many others . VWs run deep with me. Great cars and wonderful people.
In California whoever holds the title owns it and the DMV doesn't determine ownership based on bizarre stories or any stories at all. In addition to that, if the vehicle as been on the same property for over 2 years, the property owner can file for a lien title. It used to be possible to do that for cars abandoned on public streets as well. I picked up a sweet '56 Oval that way in 1982 that someone left in an alley and truly abandoned it. You have to notify whoever is listed on the title and if the certified letter is returned undeliverable, DMV issues the claimant a new title. Was this car missing the chassis number or something? I think I saw this very car at Bugorama '86.
True...but despite what California rules are, there are moral rules to follow as well. The car in my mind belonged to someone else, and the whole situation just felt sketchy. Not something I wanted any part of even if the car was free.
@@Carchaeology Ah okay. I didn't realize that you believed someone else owns it. As far as it being a 1943 I'm thinking it may be another year and that someone at the DMV just made a typo when creating the California title. I had a 1971 Porsche 911E that was actually a 1970 according to the vin but someone made a mistake on the title when they wrote or typed it down.
5.9.2021 Late to the party, this is a neat find because you can now built it however you want . Not may of us who actually know the older Beetles left, any true VW enthusiast will love it for what it is, not for what it isn't . -Nate
Late to the party also. And I'll start by saying I support your position on this. However, the typical samba flake armchair/keyboard expert would do nothing but pick this or any car apart. This is exactly why I don't take my cars to shows. I've dealt with car snobs before, being a Mopar guy. Some dweeb that owns a Civic shows up at a car show, and picks every car apart, and then, you have a guy that resurrected a car like this, showing off a labor of love that he has made as textbook perfect as he can, gets picked apart by some loudmouth, and he's angry. Then he keeps an awesome car locked away in a garage, and the rest of us are denied seeing a great car, because some jerk picked it apart. This is one of many reasons the Internet ruined the car hobby.
@@Matt-re3or Yeah ; Long ago when I was young I'd pick apart others survivors or 'restorations' then I grew up and began to see the bigger picture . The funny thing is : all those Arm Chair 'experts' who never even drive the oldies they own all love my raggedy beat to sh*t '59 because it's so original ~ almost every ince (? MM ?) of it is damaged, bent, rusty or dented, $50 Beige re spray in the 1960's, no headliner, rusty bumpers, etc., etc. yet they all enthuse over it . I just spent three days tooling it 'round Death Valley, Lone Pine and the Mojave Desert, at leasy have of the time I was flat footing up hills or across the Desert, this increased my fuel economy fro 22 ~ 25 MPG to a steady 30.3 MPG and it didn't burn any oil . -Nate
@@VWNate1 it's cool to have a fun car you don't have to worry about a shopping cart bumping into it. The patina movement has definitely helped driver cars be appreciated. I am about to go make a deal on a hideous 64, smacked on every corner, rusty, etc etc, but it's a sunroof car. Looks like factory paint too. I'm going to leave it looking just like it does now, might wash the moss and pollen off though
@@Matt-re3or I've been slowly cleaning to incredible cigarette smoke off the original paint inside, it's disgusting . then I carefully compound, polish and wax it, the dash now looks pretty good, I've begun on the door jambs and will do the doors inside too ere long . I've been able to compound some decent shine to the wretched re spray too, never forget that RUST NEVER SLEEPS ! . I'm not okay with anything but -me- touching the car, shopping carts don't get the chance to ding it . Will be taking it out for another multi - day back roads trip soon =8-) . -Nate
check the VIN number and contact VW - it can be original 43 KDF, i hope it is - 87 275 km ? - not bad . i hope to see more - running and driving - is the vin number 1-019400 ? the organisatio Todt got some 1943 KDF's
The KdF car was designing VW engine flat four and transmission was 4 gears for climbing rock and mountain plus reverse gear. Then DAF organization was selling Krubelwagen jeep type 82 for it is rag top or folding roof of tan color Germany WWII. Robert Ley was the German that manufactured the 1943 as it is the same model as 1942 BUG with hole on the roof for observer to look thru binocular at the movement of Allied Force infantry. The bug could be produce in Paris Automobilia show and Delage would make a midget car with Auto Union Audi in Chemnitz that made the Volkswagen electric power plant into sheet metal fender bender Press along with Marquette Arc welding machine. Wolfsburg and River Building were working class as they had order larger Volkswagen truck lorry or Half track carrier called Strandbuggy company of sturmfuhrers. Whenever you try stamping a name plate for it's VIN and try harder to get matching up the engine series number made in 1950's or 1960's with a license that must be purchase from Headquarter in Volkswagen Land places. That way the 1943 Beetle carriage with power up by gasoline Texaco made the Volkswagen or Gulf made the volkswagon if it is to proof that it is Giant enough to conquer warehouse of shipping wharf of the delivery called Volkswagen Import of borrow the wharf of its temporarily workers at dry dock metallurgists or social worker that must do the holding the family of helm wheel and rudder specialize for trading Post called taxing and punch carders. Thanks for Mike FN Garage and photo by you in California. Hicks VW repair shop and services by DMV. Date is Aug. 20, 2022.
The story as I heard it from a previous owner is that a portion of the body is from a 43 but it has been sliced and diced together from Beetles of many years. Sadly the car has now gone missing, it was moved from this place to another location and then the owner passed away. I’m sure it will surface somewhere eventually, but for now it’s an even bigger mystery.
Virtanen is the Finnish guy I think you mean - he does split window panels. Tomasz in Poland does really early stuff though. Randy, I think it's been rebuilt using a '51-ish donor car - that drivers door looked remarkably similar to the one on my Pastel Green Jan '51 car. Restojohnny had that slammed and skirted '43 on Fumigalli wheels, and I remember something on his build thread on The Samba about the rear window inner pressing having a different number of vertical ribs underneath it. This car has three but I can't remember what it should have! Cool car nonetheless!
@@jarikinnunen1718 wow, he's really expanded his range since I last looked! Mind you, I sold my split quite a few years ago. I'd heard that he had a super nice split that he drilled the spotwelds out of and disassembled it so that he could 3D scan the pieces to make his tooling. Don't know if its true, but a cool story!
I heard the iconic VW logo was designed after WW2 by a British army officer when they were deciding what to do with the car factory and the cars they saw little potential in so didn’t take the design as war booty but gave it to the Germans to help their economy recover. But I see VW logo on this WW2 car?
The VW logo was in use from the start but with a cog wheel design around the outside. This car is not a good representation of anything really, as it is an assemblage of parts from many years.
As others tell us here the V and W in a circle were the logo from the very start. The difference between the nazi-era and the post-war era is the toothed wheel around it. That cog wheel around a swastica was the official logo of a sub-division of the Nazi-party, the so-called "Deutsche Arbeitsfront", the "German workmen's front". That pompous name stands for an organisation that dealt with a great variety of things, acting as a pseudo-trade union, was to unify "workers of fist and forehead" ( that is blue and white collar workforce), saw to it that workplaces were well-maintained under the guidelines of a dictatorship that "did somethíng for ordinary people" (clean canteens, washrooms and showers, well-lit workspace..) and organized holidays and travels. For that another sub-division was created, the organisation "Kraft durch Freude" (strength through joy). For some reason that entire Volkswagen-plant project was put under their command. One reason was that the people should believe that it really were "their" cars that would be built for them. As a member of the Deutsche Arbeitsfront" you could subscribe your future car. It was supposed to cost a little under 1000 Reichsmark and you would get it as soon as you had paid a good deal of that sum with a monthly subscription of only 5 RM . The head of the Deutsche Arbeitsfront was some Robert Ley, people nicknamed him "Reichstrunkenbold"- "Reichsdrunkard'". His pompous speeches in a slurred voice, usually at the official 1st of May rallies, made him the laughing stock of the nation. During the war Ley was responsible for the exploitation of occupied Europe and all that what we can simply call slave labour. When he had read the massive indictment against him in his cell at Nuremberg he suffered a nervous breakdown and hanged himself. Needless to say that the people who had subscibed "their" VW could throw their subscription book into the fire after the war.
Beetles were produced for war effort use along with the Kubelwagen and Schwimmwagen. They even built special models of the Beetle with taller suspension and off road tires.
@@Carchaeology Thank you for your reply and information. Makes sense. The VW bug and Model T are the finest designed car ever ! I love your channel ! !!
@@e-curb The Volkswagen Typ 87, also known as the Kommandeurswagen, was a World War II, four-wheel-drive version of the Volkswagen Beetle.It was produced from 1941 to 1944 by the Volkswagen plant, primarily for the Wehrmacht (German armed forces). The Wehrmacht classified the Kommandeurswagen as leichter geländegängiger PKW, 4-sitziger, 4-radgetriebener Geländewagen Typ 87. ("light offroad passenger car, four seats, all wheel drive offroad vehicle Type 87"). The drivetrain and the engine are the same as in the Volkswagen Typ 166 Schwimmwagen amphibious vehicle. 564 units of the Kommandeurswagen were produced;[ in November 1946, the Volkswagen plant - by then under British control - produced two more vehicles using parts from stores. (Wikipedia)
This "FrankenInsect", original 1943 bug, or whatever it is, has not been sitting outside for very long. (so why is it outside in CA in December 2019 when this vid was published?) Whoever owns this, if s/he is not prepared to restore it s/himself, perhaps ought donate it to VW. If it's a genuine "WWII wagon", I think VW will probably buy it, ship it back to Germany, give it a full righteous resto, and then put it in their Vintage VW Museum in Wolfsburg. It would look real nice sitting right next to their 1938 bug. On the other hand, if VW declines for whatever reason, then the owner at the very least ought to get it back inside a heated garage, before it rusts away!
It’s a long and twisted tale that lead to the car sitting outside. Since the video was published the tale has gotten even crazier, with the death of the owner and the car has vanished. Nobody seems to know where it went !
The Volkswagen was a 4 wheel drive Beetle and the Krugenwagen was a jeep with rear air-cooled engine 1200cc. The Beetle 1943 was dumped into a trash of fully rust. Then someone pick it up and didn't find the pink slip and VIN was not original so it was void by the DMV. To make it work the VIN plate must be made and rivet it to the front under the hood and punch numberare the and stamp on the chassis hump near the shift and make all just identical VIN. With proof that you aim to buy it for $50,000.00 from the land owner that the law allow the owner of the lot will be the new owner of the 1943 replica of the old Beetle without the engine. It is not driveable unless you proof of the new receipt with what you paid for it. How much would you willing to pay from the estate and DMV wants the proof of what it's worth otherwise no one will have any VIN identification of Adopt the Beetle. Thanks.
My thoughts exactly. Its a split beetle. Who cares if a dash knob got replaced at some point from a 49. Some armchair expert suggested donating it to the vw museum, and as I recall, their restoration of a vw38 or 39 had parts from a mid 60s on it. This is why I will never show my 54 I'm working on. Its on a 66 pan. Some mouth breathing douche will go on and on how the car is a fake oval and ruined. I recall a Volkswagen ad that highlighted a guys build using parts from all different year parts. Maybe the samba snobs should read that ad and rethink their lives. Preserving old cars, as usable cars, should be more important than bean counting. 2 restored camaros, or mustangs, or Cudas, should be more important than one having replacement hood bolts. Note: I don't care who likes this. Its the truth. Putting 67 fenders on a 68 camaro isn't the end of the world. It shouldn't take 20k off the value of a restored car. Fix your classic with the parts you can afford. Part of the car hobby is passing it down to the next generation. 2 cars restored is better than 1 restored and 1 in boxes because the owner thinks everyone will talk trash because he can't find the original engine block that was left out for the junk man in 1972. Ok, rant over. People need to appreciate the time and effort into a vintage car instead of its a 58 but the serial number on the lower balljoint is 1959.
Prototypes started in the 1930’s and I believe a few were sold in 1938-9 but the war came in and only vehicles for military use took precedence. Focused production for civilian use really started post war in 1946.
@@uwewaibel9163 close. The first split rear window appeared in early 1938. The first public appearance was at the cornerstone ceremony for the VW factory in Wolfsburg in May 1938. Then the last split window was made in mid March of 53.
@beetlekey it’s not a normal anything . It’s really a total Frankenstein of parts. Some real, some fantasy, and all of it tangled in a huge legal mess.
A Nazi Herbie from 1943 but those were good luck cars helped us win and Hitler lost so those were like lady bugs those boys of Herbie's ancestors thanks to them helped us win
No such animal as a 1943 beetle car, all wartime production was kubelwagen schwimmwagen etc Beetle car production was started by Major Ivan Hirst, REME in 1945
lol. The guy in Santa Barbara has like 3 Kubelwagens. Old European cars were shipped here by the dozens over the past few decades. My old 1959 Deluxe Beetle was shipped here from South Africa in the early 70's.
I do not understand why someone would let that super rare bug sit out in the weather.
This is a mass produced Beetle AFTER WW2 fitted with some older Parts (1949 - 1953).You can see it in preparation for the right-hand drive version in sheet metal.
@@kingofpentacles3213 I think he's referring to the vertical panel forward of the pedals. It has the pressing for where the dimmer switch goes on a RHD car.
The no ashtray could mean the dash is a Standard.
Why the Semaphore signals there but welded Up then?
@@georgebamber6871 If the car was being used on the street in Germany in the 60s, semaphores were illegal by then, so it was common for the slots to be filled in.
@@georgebamber6871 That is what I think as well.
@@e-curb Either filled in with some welded steel and painted "en suite" with the car of a piece of chromium-plated pressed steel was bolted over the opening.
All early beetles had no indicators at the wings but spring-loaded ones that popped out from the B-column. Basically they were a rectangular metal frame with a yellow or orange light in them that was visible from behind and the front but not from the side. When that was seen to be a danger to cyclists and bikers the indicators got there where we expect them to find in modern cars. The old ones were taken out and the hole in the column was closed with a ( chromium plated) piece of metal. Can it be that this strange object with its welding in it is such an early B-column?
I remember years ago when I worked at a concert venue they had grateful dead and phish concerts. All the cars were Vw bugs and vans.You could see cars with tags from every state in the country because they had people that traveled the country with the bands
they were called Deadheads
Nice find, please keep us posted on the outcome .
That's great! Please, keep us informed!
what a fun discovery with an interesting twist/background - I look forward to hearing more if it comes up again.
Amazing find.
Who the Hell in his right mind would let this car out in the rain!!
The earliest one I worked on was a 1948 still in the family who bought it new. But everyone, even people without any car knowledge should know better than to let it sit outside!
I hope you can get hold of this car and try to do it justice by making it as original as possible.
Very interesting....things that make you go ummmmmm...anxious to know more about this one!
Dear Misses Supermarci
👍👌👏 Really nice to meet you here! I just recently found this channel because of the 1940 one of a kind Mercedes Benz Rometsch/Beeskow/Erdmann und Rossi cabriolet konglomerat.
Best regards luck and health to all of you.
Cool find. I still have my first car. A 1967 VW with a moon roof, Crank open sun roof. Been threw thee engines and right now has a brand new rebuilt in it but it's been sitting for over 30 year. Probably never get back to fixing it up, getting old with a bad back. Love them BUGS....
Just dont let it rot man...i understand personal atrachment, but at least store it properly so someone else will be able to enjoy it one day
Would love to hear any updates on this one!
Wild story on a very interesting car.
Very cool! Would love to find a KdF Wagen….
This car is priceless. It is a piece of History.
Sounds like a bit of a bitsa, however, it has the bones of the original car and many original parts, so definitely worth restoring, if the ownership elements can be resolved. Thanks for sharing.
Crying my eyes out wanting that beauty.
This was a well known car, it's not a 43. It's like a mixture of parts.
Thanks!
Thank you!
Could be a made for movie Drama bug. Very cool find
It just looks like a Frankenbug. There's definitely early sheet metal, but it looks pieced together from a lot of different cars. Beyond pan and body numbers, I don't see how anyone can definitively say what it is. I think it's probably worth more in parts than as a complete car at this point.
rich, elitist, douch-bag. I got a 1970 that I fixed,,,AND I drive it. fuck head. beep,
beep.
@@greasycock455 Oh, I'm sorry that you're not smart enough to get a job that pays you well enough to buy a real German made vintage VW. Keep working at it, kid. Maybe you'll get there someday. In the meantime, have fun with your Brazilian Super Junk! Gas flaps and BIG windows, FTW!!!1!1!!
I have struck this situation myself several times. Where someone is selling a car which isn't their's. Sometimes the car has changed owners because of unpaid bills. In one instance i came across a pair of really desirable Mercedes, both had been partially restored at huge expense,but the real owner was locked up in Prison. i didn't touch them and I'm glad I didn't because the owner resurfaced and is still hunting for his cars...which will turn up .
Cool video. I'm working on my 69 ghia that I saved from the crusher!👍
Ok now this is epic find
Standingin the rain....,hopefully it gets a good owner ones. I have a 1940 Opel Kadett cabrio- limousine. Its not in the rain. Still collecting original parts for the car. Germany is next door so thats easy. Regards from the Battle of the Bulge area, Belgium.
Does it still have its woodgas-generator? I am just joking. In a TV-infotainment show they asked people whether there still was one of those around in operational order and someone contacted them and said "yes, he had one". The station sent a camera-team to his farmyard at the North-Frisian coast and what he brought to life fuming and sputtering was a 1938 model Opel Kapitän.
It is an amazing found
The company is Ferdinand Porsche that build the front end suspension with four torsion round bars, each is clamped the bar's end with its teeth torq-bit male and second end also have teeth (metal) that is engaged to one of control trailing arm's teeth around its near end. The upper control trailing arm also is connect to the upper torsion bar at driver side. Along with driver side lower control trailing arm connect to the lower torsion bar. That the torsion bar is inside the tubular-pipe/front end chassis. Then two more torsion bars for passenger side spindle linking to the front end suspension (upper and lower control trailing arms).
The Type 12 was longer wheel base than the 1943 Beetle. Two models were made in Stuttgart: one was open-top cabriolet and other model is closed sedan type 60. It became shorter wheel base than type 12 in 1932 A.D. It has no rear window and headlamps were fitted into atop the front hood. Most of the Volkswagen wagon were color black. Thanks for working like a Volkswagen Lifers.
Well no ;
The front torsion bars were flat stamped steel leaves, 5 on each side IIRC
-Nate
My friend has a Type 87 and has also no winker. The B-column is so like from 1960 to 64. It happened, as much as I know, if the car was used in war. So turning winkers were not important.
Very interesting! I once saw a WW2 German news film that for a split second showed the back end of a beetle in the snow in Russian that they had built a fire under the engine to liquify the oil. Probably a Commander Wagen
In the wartime publication of the Kubel's operating handbook, for use in Russia in the winter they instruct the soldiers to thin engine oil with gasoline!
That is what my granduncle told me about his experience. But the verhicle that he and his men thawed up in the plains west of Stalingrad was his tank.
German mobility at the eastern front had become low during the first "Russlandwinter". Nearly half the motors had cracked despite anti-freeze in the cooling water. Universal joints had given up when the wheels had sunk in the mud. More and more military transport relied on cart and horses. That was what the newsreels were not to show. The irony of that experience is that when West-Germany was re-armed after 1955/6 the staff in the newly formed army procurement offices all seemed to have been young officers at the Russian front and with that traumatic memories ordered monsters like the "Magirus" lorry that could run on ANY fuel from petrol to hair-oil on ANY surface! It took an entire generation to pass until logical reasoning won. Of course you need all-wheel-drive lorries in the forces but the bulk of logistics is carried out on normal roads in mid-European weather and for that you can as well buy ordinary vehicles from the serial production .
I always thought that the very early Beetles had no rear window and that the split rear window only came after WW2.
There were prototype Beetles that had no rear window, but from 1938 on up to October of 52, the split rear window was there.
Yup
Nickname "Brezel". Tiny split windows can be found in many cars from that period. Just think of that American-style beauty "Opel Kapitän" from 1938/9 to the early 40s, and then again after slight refits in style from 1951 or so.
Many decades ago,l saw a bug,l was told it was a 46, I swear it had a tiny oval window,not a split and not the later oval like a 57 would have,is that possible?
@@dougtodd305 That is possible. There were companies in Germany in the late 50s that would cut out the center divider so that an oval glass would fit.
Back in 1990 or so my wife and I took an alternate way home from grocery shopping though Epping New Hampshire. What do my eyes spot, an early beetle sitting covered in a driveway. No one was home so we poked around a bit and it was an early and complete KDF beetle. Blade bumpers with banana overriders, 16" wheels, cog wheel hub caps, the whole deal. We wrote a note with my contact info and stuck it in the door hoping for a call. Next grocery shopping outing we went the same way and the beetle was gone. Did it get sold? Did they move it out of sight somewhere? But it was complete and solid and I would have loved to own it. I started with the VW disease in 1968 where I worked at a VW only repair shop. My employer and I would scour back alley ways buying all the split beetles we could find. Best score was a 1945 for $35. He was also in business with Bill Collins who together would buy early splits in Europe and have them shipped back to the states. Bill Collins was the person responsible for the "Return to the Fatherland" tour in 1999 and a NHVWC club member. FWIW, the 45 went to a doctor in Arizona who did restore it. VW life friends
Some great stories! I joined up with Bill and the caravan at the start in Long Beach and drove along in my split for a while …always wished I could have gone the whole way. Dr Dick Christiansen did a great job with the 45, as well as many others . VWs run deep with me. Great cars and wonderful people.
A fantastic time in life. Yes, I understood the 45 was restored. Retired to Ecuador 10 years ago and enjoy the south American VW history as well.
Looks like they put on some Klassic Fab green panels in the frunk area.
Thanks for sharing ! Any new developments ?
It appears to have vanished now and the owner recently passed away. It’s a total mystery at the moment!
@@Carchaeology Oh wow, spooky stuff.
You must restore this rare car. 😊
In California whoever holds the title owns it and the DMV doesn't determine ownership based on bizarre stories or any stories at all. In addition to that, if the vehicle as been on the same property for over 2 years, the property owner can file for a lien title. It used to be possible to do that for cars abandoned on public streets as well. I picked up a sweet '56 Oval that way in 1982 that someone left in an alley and truly abandoned it. You have to notify whoever is listed on the title and if the certified letter is returned undeliverable, DMV issues the claimant a new title. Was this car missing the chassis number or something? I think I saw this very car at Bugorama '86.
True...but despite what California rules are, there are moral rules to follow as well. The car in my mind belonged to someone else, and the whole situation just felt sketchy. Not something I wanted any part of even if the car was free.
@@Carchaeology Ah okay. I didn't realize that you believed someone else owns it. As far as it being a 1943 I'm thinking it may be another year and that someone at the DMV just made a typo when creating the California title. I had a 1971 Porsche 911E that was actually a 1970 according to the vin but someone made a mistake on the title when they wrote or typed it down.
Van you Tell more about the history ?
Sir, do you have an update video?
No, the car has now disappeared. I don’t know what happened to it after the death of its owner
5.9.2021
Late to the party, this is a neat find because you can now built it however you want .
Not may of us who actually know the older Beetles left, any true VW enthusiast will love it for what it is, not for what it isn't .
-Nate
Late to the party also. And I'll start by saying I support your position on this.
However, the typical samba flake armchair/keyboard expert would do nothing but pick this or any car apart.
This is exactly why I don't take my cars to shows.
I've dealt with car snobs before, being a Mopar guy.
Some dweeb that owns a Civic shows up at a car show, and picks every car apart, and then, you have a guy that resurrected a car like this, showing off a labor of love that he has made as textbook perfect as he can, gets picked apart by some loudmouth, and he's angry.
Then he keeps an awesome car locked away in a garage, and the rest of us are denied seeing a great car, because some jerk picked it apart.
This is one of many reasons the Internet ruined the car hobby.
@@Matt-re3or Yeah ;
Long ago when I was young I'd pick apart others survivors or 'restorations' then I grew up and began to see the bigger picture .
The funny thing is : all those Arm Chair 'experts' who never even drive the oldies they own all love my raggedy beat to sh*t '59 because it's so original ~ almost every ince (? MM ?) of it is damaged, bent, rusty or dented, $50 Beige re spray in the 1960's, no headliner, rusty bumpers, etc., etc. yet they all enthuse over it .
I just spent three days tooling it 'round Death Valley, Lone Pine and the Mojave Desert, at leasy have of the time I was flat footing up hills or across the Desert, this increased my fuel economy fro 22 ~ 25 MPG to a steady 30.3 MPG and it didn't burn any oil .
-Nate
@@VWNate1 it's cool to have a fun car you don't have to worry about a shopping cart bumping into it. The patina movement has definitely helped driver cars be appreciated.
I am about to go make a deal on a hideous 64, smacked on every corner, rusty, etc etc, but it's a sunroof car. Looks like factory paint too. I'm going to leave it looking just like it does now, might wash the moss and pollen off though
@@Matt-re3or I've been slowly cleaning to incredible cigarette smoke off the original paint inside, it's disgusting . then I carefully compound, polish and wax it, the dash now looks pretty good, I've begun on the door jambs and will do the doors inside too ere long .
I've been able to compound some decent shine to the wretched re spray too, never forget that RUST NEVER SLEEPS ! . I'm not okay with anything but -me- touching the car, shopping carts don't get the chance to ding it .
Will be taking it out for another multi - day back roads trip soon =8-) .
-Nate
how did it end up out there
check the VIN number and contact VW - it can be original 43 KDF, i hope it is - 87 275 km ? - not bad . i hope to see more - running and driving - is the vin number 1-019400 ? the organisatio Todt got some 1943 KDF's
What I can't believe is that the clown who recorded this video, didn't look for the chassis number on the tunnel.
The KdF car was designing VW engine flat four and transmission was 4 gears for climbing rock and mountain plus reverse gear. Then DAF organization was selling Krubelwagen jeep type 82 for it is rag top or folding roof of tan color Germany WWII. Robert Ley was the German that manufactured the 1943 as it is the same model as 1942 BUG with hole on the roof for observer to look thru binocular at the movement of Allied Force infantry. The bug could be produce in Paris Automobilia show and Delage would make a midget car with Auto Union Audi in Chemnitz that made the Volkswagen electric power plant into sheet metal fender bender Press along with Marquette Arc welding machine. Wolfsburg and River Building were working class as they had order larger Volkswagen truck lorry or Half track carrier called Strandbuggy company of sturmfuhrers.
Whenever you try stamping a name plate for it's VIN and try harder to get matching up the engine series number made in 1950's or 1960's with a license that must be purchase from Headquarter in Volkswagen Land places. That way the 1943 Beetle carriage with power up by gasoline Texaco made the Volkswagen or Gulf made the volkswagon if it is to proof that it is Giant enough to conquer warehouse of shipping wharf of the delivery called Volkswagen Import of borrow the wharf of its temporarily workers at dry dock metallurgists or social worker that must do the holding the family of helm wheel and rudder specialize for trading Post called taxing and punch carders. Thanks for Mike FN Garage and photo by you in California. Hicks VW repair shop and services by DMV. Date is Aug. 20, 2022.
There will come a time when there will be no more ancient barn finds. Make the best of what you’ve got. Build a car that will fool the experts.
Sure looks like the one that Jonny use to have
Unsolved Mystery
did anyone ever find out what year this bug is or is it such a mixture its hard to tell
The story as I heard it from a previous owner is that a portion of the body is from a 43 but it has been sliced and diced together from Beetles of many years. Sadly the car has now gone missing, it was moved from this place to another location and then the owner passed away. I’m sure it will surface somewhere eventually, but for now it’s an even bigger mystery.
@@Carchaeology thanks for the update ! i enjoy your show... maybe youll get a chance to feature the mystery bug again one day
War time beetle under tarp in the rain not match. Somewhere in Finland is guy who make body parts for oldest beetle. He know what is real.
Yes, I know it is not 100% legitimate, in fact it may be a stretch to call it 50%. But it still deserves better than to sit in the rain under a tarp.
Virtanen is the Finnish guy I think you mean - he does split window panels. Tomasz in Poland does really early stuff though.
Randy, I think it's been rebuilt using a '51-ish donor car - that drivers door looked remarkably similar to the one on my Pastel Green Jan '51 car. Restojohnny had that slammed and skirted '43 on Fumigalli wheels, and I remember something on his build thread on The Samba about the rear window inner pressing having a different number of vertical ribs underneath it. This car has three but I can't remember what it should have!
Cool car nonetheless!
@@neildavies2276 restorationpanels.com/ 70 different parts fo 40`s and early 50`s beetle.
@@jarikinnunen1718 wow, he's really expanded his range since I last looked! Mind you, I sold my split quite a few years ago. I'd heard that he had a super nice split that he drilled the spotwelds out of and disassembled it so that he could 3D scan the pieces to make his tooling. Don't know if its true, but a cool story!
👍👌👏
I heard the iconic VW logo was designed after WW2 by a British army officer when they were deciding what to do with the car factory and the cars they saw little potential in so didn’t take the design as war booty but gave it to the Germans to help their economy recover. But I see VW logo on this WW2 car?
The VW logo was in use from the start but with a cog wheel design around the outside. This car is not a good representation of anything really, as it is an assemblage of parts from many years.
Be fun to put it up on the high suspension and off-road tyres, kind of a Hitler Dune Buggy vibe 😂
The VW logo existed in 1937.
@@Carchaeology most parts with a cog wheel around the VW logo are pre 1945 made and may be used for the first beetles made under British command...
As others tell us here the V and W in a circle were the logo from the very start. The difference between the nazi-era and the post-war era is the toothed wheel around it. That cog wheel around a swastica was the official logo of a sub-division of the Nazi-party, the so-called "Deutsche Arbeitsfront", the "German workmen's front". That pompous name stands for an organisation that dealt with a great variety of things, acting as a pseudo-trade union, was to unify "workers of fist and forehead" ( that is blue and white collar workforce), saw to it that workplaces were well-maintained under the guidelines of a dictatorship that "did somethíng for ordinary people" (clean canteens, washrooms and showers, well-lit workspace..) and organized holidays and travels. For that another sub-division was created, the organisation "Kraft durch Freude" (strength through joy). For some reason that entire Volkswagen-plant project was put under their command. One reason was that the people should believe that it really were "their" cars that would be built for them. As a member of the Deutsche Arbeitsfront" you could subscribe your future car. It was supposed to cost a little under 1000 Reichsmark and you would get it as soon as you had paid a good deal of that sum with a monthly subscription of only 5 RM . The head of the Deutsche Arbeitsfront was some Robert Ley, people nicknamed him "Reichstrunkenbold"- "Reichsdrunkard'". His pompous speeches in a slurred voice, usually at the official 1st of May rallies, made him the laughing stock of the nation. During the war Ley was responsible for the exploitation of occupied Europe and all that what we can simply call slave labour. When he had read the massive indictment against him in his cell at Nuremberg he suffered a nervous breakdown and hanged himself. Needless to say that the people who had subscibed "their" VW could throw their subscription book into the fire after the war.
Heyy! I would really enjoy building that thing. How do I get in contact with the owner? Greetings from Wolfsburg Germany
It has been sold.
Is the serial number back where the back seat is?
No, a wartime VW has the VIN on the tunnel up front behind the shifter.
My first question - and yes, I'm a neophyte - I thought all efforts were geared towards producing war vehicles like tanks, planes etc. ?
Beetles were produced for war effort use along with the Kubelwagen and Schwimmwagen. They even built special models of the Beetle with taller suspension and off road tires.
@@Carchaeology Thank you for your reply and information. Makes sense. The VW bug and Model T are the finest designed car ever ! I love your channel ! !!
@@Carchaeology Under British command they also built 4x4 beetles with the drives of the Schwimmwagen...
@@uwewaibel9163 Only 2 of them.
@@e-curb The Volkswagen Typ 87, also known as the Kommandeurswagen, was a World War II, four-wheel-drive version of the Volkswagen Beetle.It was produced from 1941 to 1944 by the Volkswagen plant, primarily for the Wehrmacht (German armed forces). The Wehrmacht classified the Kommandeurswagen as leichter geländegängiger PKW, 4-sitziger, 4-radgetriebener Geländewagen Typ 87. ("light offroad passenger car, four seats, all wheel drive offroad vehicle Type 87"). The drivetrain and the engine are the same as in the Volkswagen Typ 166 Schwimmwagen amphibious vehicle. 564 units of the Kommandeurswagen were produced;[
in November 1946, the Volkswagen plant - by then under British control - produced two more vehicles using parts from stores. (Wikipedia)
if its not reported stolen a lien sale would make it legal
Didnt think they produced any during the war.
Not only did they make them during the war, they also made some before the war.
Museum piece
Thats why you never buy a pig in a poke, tend to end up with a cat.🤔
Yes but now the cat is out of the bag.
This "FrankenInsect", original 1943 bug, or whatever it is, has not been sitting outside for very long. (so why is it outside in CA in December 2019 when this vid was published?) Whoever owns this, if s/he is not prepared to restore it s/himself, perhaps ought donate it to VW. If it's a genuine "WWII wagon", I think VW will probably buy it, ship it back to Germany, give it a full righteous resto, and then put it in their Vintage VW Museum in Wolfsburg. It would look real nice sitting right next to their 1938 bug. On the other hand, if VW declines for whatever reason, then the owner at the very least ought to get it back inside a heated garage, before it rusts away!
It’s a long and twisted tale that lead to the car sitting outside. Since the video was published the tale has gotten even crazier, with the death of the owner and the car has vanished. Nobody seems to know where it went !
@@Carchaeology Not even the property owner knows? Seems like this might be a case for Columbo.
Man I hope you find that car again I was completely shocked when I stumbled across this video!!
Some might be true 1943 others from modern 60s 70s 80s parts
Death cars freak me out
The Volkswagen was a 4 wheel drive Beetle and the Krugenwagen was a jeep with rear air-cooled engine 1200cc. The Beetle 1943 was dumped into a trash of fully rust. Then someone pick it up and didn't find the pink slip and VIN was not original so it was void by the DMV. To make it work the VIN plate must be made and rivet it to the front under the hood and punch numberare the and stamp on the chassis hump near the shift and make all just identical VIN. With proof that you aim to buy it for $50,000.00 from the land owner that the law allow the owner of the lot will be the new owner of the 1943 replica of the old Beetle without the engine. It is not driveable unless you proof of the new receipt with what you paid for it. How much would you willing to pay from the estate and DMV wants the proof of what it's worth otherwise no one will have any VIN identification of Adopt the Beetle. Thanks.
Randy, I just know. What ever happened with this if you know.
No clue where it went !
I don't believe this is an 1943 Beetle..
In Germany, mayby.. not in the states..
this is an past war car....
BFD! Just fix it up and enjoy it!
My thoughts exactly. Its a split beetle. Who cares if a dash knob got replaced at some point from a 49. Some armchair expert suggested donating it to the vw museum, and as I recall, their restoration of a vw38 or 39 had parts from a mid 60s on it. This is why I will never show my 54 I'm working on. Its on a 66 pan. Some mouth breathing douche will go on and on how the car is a fake oval and ruined. I recall a Volkswagen ad that highlighted a guys build using parts from all different year parts. Maybe the samba snobs should read that ad and rethink their lives. Preserving old cars, as usable cars, should be more important than bean counting. 2 restored camaros, or mustangs, or Cudas, should be more important than one having replacement hood bolts.
Note: I don't care who likes this. Its the truth. Putting 67 fenders on a 68 camaro isn't the end of the world. It shouldn't take 20k off the value of a restored car. Fix your classic with the parts you can afford. Part of the car hobby is passing it down to the next generation. 2 cars restored is better than 1 restored and 1 in boxes because the owner thinks everyone will talk trash because he can't find the original engine block that was left out for the junk man in 1972.
Ok, rant over. People need to appreciate the time and effort into a vintage car instead of its a 58 but the serial number on the lower balljoint is 1959.
Im interested in purchasing it , get in touch with me
It’s not for sale
@@Carchaeology
Thank you for reply ,
and it's sitting outside... ; -/
I don’t care who ones it, please please don’t leave it out in the rain like that.
when was Volkswagen built i thought was started after ww2
Prototypes started in the 1930’s and I believe a few were sold in 1938-9 but the war came in and only vehicles for military use took precedence. Focused production for civilian use really started post war in 1946.
@@Carchaeology thanks i thought so we would see then driving around in ww2 movies
Never 1943 ! Must be 50 or 51, I had such a one
car's earlier than a 51. No ashtray.
Split window makes it early
split window was used from 1937 till June 1953...
@@uwewaibel9163 close. The first split rear window appeared in early 1938. The first public appearance was at the cornerstone ceremony for the VW factory in Wolfsburg in May 1938.
Then the last split window was made in mid March of 53.
OR 1949;
There are no 1943 Beetles. It may be a much modified 1948, but it is certainly not a 1943.
Beetle production started in 1940, but it was only a trickle during the war.
Not 1943. 1947 or newer. Wrong door handles.
What happened With the car ?!
Unsure! It appears to have disappeared. The owner passed away recently and the car is gone. Nobody knows where it went!
CARCHAEOLOGY shame!
Cursed Beetle
Hat keinen motor der Käffer ??..dieser modell ist wundebar.
This is a normal 1950 - 51 split. You specialist.....
Didn't the earliest vws have a large louvered rear area? Almost like no rear window at all?
Those were prototypes
@beetlekey it’s not a normal anything . It’s really a total Frankenstein of parts. Some real, some fantasy, and all of it tangled in a huge legal mess.
It's earlier than that. No ashtray in the dash means pre-50.
@@e-curb I thought it was only deluxes that had ashtrays? Standards went without?
A Nazi Herbie from 1943 but those were good luck cars helped us win and Hitler lost so those were like lady bugs those boys of Herbie's ancestors thanks to them helped us win
Any swastikas stamped into the vehicle?
No such animal as a 1943 beetle car, all wartime production was kubelwagen schwimmwagen etc Beetle car production was started by Major Ivan Hirst, REME in 1945
Not true. There are plenty of surviving wartime production Beetles. Series production started in 1940, but only very limited numbers were made.
be care
Not a 1943 vw ! To survive WW2 , then makes its way to USA ? More believable if the story was Euro based !
There are more than a few WW2 VWs here in the US
lol. The guy in Santa Barbara has like 3 Kubelwagens. Old European cars were shipped here by the dozens over the past few decades. My old 1959 Deluxe Beetle was shipped here from South Africa in the early 70's.
You ain’t going to do anything with it but show it off because you broke. My bug is 100% down riding low and slow
Good for you bro!
I saw a similar hack job on a split that chris valone sold , it was made from so many pieces it wasn't funny , fake split beetle UA-cam
Thanks for a lot of nothing at all information.
You are very welcome. 😂
Tell us what it is, smart guy.