Francisco Carrion
That the Volkswagen Beetle It is one of the most iconic models in automotive history. It is something that no one can miss; For this reason, the pre-series units that gave rise to the myth are coveted collector's items that are also counted on the fingers of the hand. In the next few years we will see the restoration of a unique specimen.
Scarcely a week ago, the men of the Hamburg Prototype Museum (Germany) surprised the community Volkswagen with the announcement of your next restoration project: A 1939 Beetle.
The Hamburg Museum of Prototypes has been dedicated to recovering, restoring and exhibiting unique vehicles of German origin for some 10 years, mainly those involving Ferdinand Porsche and his heirs. But there are not only Volkswagen and Porsche; We can also find rare parts from other brands such as BMW, Veritas, Hanomag, Borgward and a long etc.
Of course, the museum selects with a clear condition: that they be "rare" units, whether they be competition vehicles, very short series of street cars or - as in the case at hand - real prototypes of pre-series production models .
As you can see in the photos, the project is not simple: This old Beetle is completely charred and barely a twisted sheet metal shell remains. The reason is that 4 years ago the warehouse where it was stored suffered a terrifying fire, in which several priceless classics were destroyed.
A lucky beetle?
This particular unit of Volkswagen Beetle It is the only one that is conserved - to call it somehow - of the 14 produced in 1939, and specifically it carries the number 3 of all of them. In 1938, 3 units with the final design had already been manufactured, although their bodies were still created by hand by Ferdinand Porsche's bodywork in Stuttgart, so they had small differences between them.
Those from 1939, although they were still assembled manually in the Porsche workshops, already had the different parts of their bodywork made using serial stamping and pressing techniques. This "Number 3" unit, like many others from prewar, served as a demonstration and test vehicle.
Specifically, he was assigned to Doctor Porsche himself, which ensured him a more peaceful existence. When the Second World War arrived, all these pre-series units were requisitioned and used for the most diverse military purposes. The few that managed to survive did so in very poor conditions, and a great majority were destroyed in the immediate postwar period by the allied forces.
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Unit 3 spent the contest kept in a government garage until it appeared when the structure collapsed in 1948. The car had several damaged parts after the collapse of the building, and it had also lost its original engine, but already in 1954 it was bought by the Raffay family, owners of the first Volkswagen dealership that opened after the war in 1946. The idea was to use it as an advertising claim, so it received a cursory restoration and signs all over the body to make its age clear.
Years passed and already in the 80s its owner, Gerhard Von Raffay, subjected it to a complete but not too careful restoration. It was brought to massive Beetle rallies across Europe until finally, in 1991, the car was put away in a Hamburg garage.
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Pasture of flames 70 years later
There it remained until in 2011 the place suffered the spectacular fire that before we commented. Apparently it was caused intentionally by a Raffay company worker and, unfortunately, it affected the fabulous family collection, which included such valuable pieces as several Bugatti or a Lohner-Porsche from 1902.
Luckily, the Hamburg Museum is specialized in the recovery of such valuable and rare pieces as this antediluvian Beetle, and as if that were not enough, it has among its collections an old Volkswagen engine -also from 1939- that will be installed ... although we will have to wait several years to see the result.
