Miguel Sánchez
If we said that this news is about the restoration of a VW Beetle we would be inaccurate. And is that this Beetle it is so old that it goes to the prehistory of the model. A time when the matrix of what would later become VW was called KDF and the model in question Type 60. You may think that we are referring to the prototype phase but ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The Type 60 was already a production car by 1937.
So what's all this naming game about if the photos clearly show a restoration of a Beetle? Well, to that historical fact that split the XNUMXth century in two: World War II. If many classics are cataloged with the label of “prewar”, In the case of the Beetles it is exactly the same. They are rare and very valuable, but there are pre-1945 units.
Due to their scarcity they are conveniently cataloged, but still the world of Beetle restoration continues to deliver powerful surprises when the rust is rubbed on the chassis number. That is what happened to Ondrej Brom. This Beetle restoration buff knew he was getting a really old one - this is easily betrayed by the shape of the split rear window - but not from 1941.
Neither more nor less than him chassis number 20. And when The VW Beetles were called KdF Type60 before the end of the fight! It appears that this is the oldest stock Beetle preserved today. Quite a find conveniently recorded in a book that will delight all lovers of Beetle restoration.
KdF. WHEN LEISURE WAS A THING OF THE NAZI PARTY
Towards the mid-30s, an idea was planning in Hitler's mind: provide a utilitarian to German middle-class families. For this he chose the engineer Ferdinand Porsche in order to make a simple and economical vehicle in which they fit "Three men and a machine gun". As soon as the plans for the car were ready, Hitler himself inaugurated the state factory of Wolfsburg. The model that would bring the German automobile industry to the height of North American Fordist production should be mass-built there.
Curiously, the commercialization of the car would not be done in dealerships, but through a booklet system offered by the KdF. Neither more nor less than the Nazi organization dedicated to the leisure of the population, offering from excursions to horse riding through a 7000 employee emporium which became the most powerful travel agency in the world. All this topped off with the name of Kraft through Joy -Strength through Joy- in another sinister tacky exercise so typical of totalitarianism.
However, by the late 30s, the aspirations of Nazism had little to do with healthy leisure or the making of family cars. The war economy invaded all aspects of German industry, causing factories dedicated to the KdF "Beetle" they will turn to the production of military machinery. So the things KdF Type60 only sold in small quantities from 1937 to 1944. Very few specimens survived the bombings and the desolation of the war. One of them did it in the Czech Republic ...
KdF TYPE 60: RESCUED FROM AMONG THE TREES
When in 1988 a young fan of beetle restoration discovered a Split beetle... He knew he was looking at something very old. Years later he acquired the car and when the restoration process reached the chassis number, there was a surprise awaiting him. Neither more nor less than the 20th. Tracking the track -many of these cars were distributed among German personalities of the time- it was possible to know that this unit was delivered to the composer Paul lincke by KdF itself.
After the disaster of WWII this KdF of 1941 stayed in Czechoslovakian territory, where years later he would be rescued for a thorough restoration documented through a magnificent book published this fall. Its circulation is only 800 copies, but if you are a true lover of the restoration of Beetles ... We believe that the history of the car and the materials contained in it will interest you a lot.
The restoration has returned to this KdF "Beetle"To the fullness of his first days, with all its details. A process that, together with the rarity of the unit itself, will trigger its price. Two years ago another KdF Type60 was sold for 270.000 euros. Crazy? Well, if you think that out of the more than 20 million Beetles produced only about 40 of these pre-1945 KdFs are preserved... Maybe not so much.
