Monday, September 17, 2007

1958 Rometsch Lawrence coupe

My introduction to the world of coachbuilt VWs came 25 years ago. I had just wrecked my first car, a '65 Beetle, and was looking for a project car to transfer the mechanical parts to. I answered an ad in the paper for a '56 oval-window, but the seller also had a "hand-built aluminum-bodied VW" that he thought I might be interested in. I knew nothing about coachbuilt VWs, but was about to get a quick education. I drove way up into the mountains east of San Diego to Alpine, and at the end of a muddy dirt road I found this Rometsch coupe. It was a little rough and was partially disassembled but complete. He wanted $1000. I forgot all about the '56 oval I had come to see and started analyzing the Rometsch as a project.







Rometsches are now well known in the VW world, but back then in the pre-Internet days there wasn't much information available. The Berlin-based firm began building VW-based specials in the early '50s. Their best known product was a design by Johannes Beeskow that was nicknamed the "Banana," which was available in both convertible and coupe form. Interestingly, Beeskow was later responsible for the production engineering of the 1500 Karmann-Ghia for Karmann. In 1957 Rometsch introduced a new model designed by Bert Lawrence, who was influenced by contemporary American styling trends. As with the Beeskow model, the body was hand-formed aluminum over a wooden framework. These cars were completely handcrafted. Production of this model continued until 1961, when the Berlin wall went up, separating the East German workforce from the workshop in West Berlin. The Rometsch firm still technically existed after that, but in a much-diminished capacity.

So here was an extremely rare hand-built car, fairly complete, partially disassembled and left out in the weather. It had apparently never been in any serious accidents. Registered in California since the early '60s. Non-original '57 floorpan. No engine. I seriously considered buying it, but in the end I was scared off by the amount of work it needed and the dry rot I found in part of the wooden body frame. It's just as well -- it was far too big a project for me at the time, and what I really needed was transportation. I ended up buying a '66 sunroof Beetle, which served me well for the next few years. My interest in coachbuilt VWs was set, though: Within four years of looking at the Rometsch I had bought my first 1500 Ghia.

Prices for Rometsches have skyrocketed in recent years. An unrestored coupe similar to this one sold last year for a reported $40,000, and a beautifully restored '59 convertible is currently available for an asking price of $79,500. I wonder whatever became of that '58?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Scott,
Im up for a road trip...do you think you could remember how to get to where that Rometsch was so long ago?

I'll drive...
Let me know!

Randy @ Oldbug.com

Scott said...

Sorry Randy, but it was 25 years ago and I really can't remember other than that it was at the end of a long dirt road way up in the hills of Alpine, CA. I really doubt it's still there. The seller put me in touch with the Rometsch Registry when I was considering the car, and I spoke to Rometsch guru Phil Leadley, who REALLY wanted the rear bumper from the car (his famous Lawrence cabrio was making do with a Ghia bumper at the time). My guess is that he eventually ended up buying it. Also, a few big fires have swept through that area recently, so if it did somehow remain there all these years it may only be a hardened pool of molten aluminum at this point. Good luck if you decide to go hunting for it, and please let me know if you're ever able to track it down.

rom/reg phil said...

We first saw this coupe in 1980?. I passed on purchasing the car because we had our hands full with
our 58 cab. Besides, we were guessing the cars would become restorable/valuable. We did our best to make the cars more well known. I guess we did something right. I was able to buy the spare body parts, and a set of 51 porsche fr. brakes from the fellow who owned the coupe. At the time rometsch cars were worthless,
scary wrecks, that cost more to restore than they were worth. My how times have changed.

Scott said...

Wow, thanks for the background Phil. Do you still have the '58 cabrio?

Patrick said...

The lawrences are nice cars.

Two weeks I promissed Eric and Oystein to take care of the lawrence models for their current Rometsch regsitry.

I have found pictures of 20 different lawrences and now trying to get the bodynumber together, so we can have an guess of how many there were made and how many still exist.

See also http://forums.pre67vw.com/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=8687

regards
Patrick
pbaptist@ziggo.nl

Phil.

Soggy B. Floyd said...

Too funny, it was me who purchased the car. I met the owner because he also built VW transaxles. I towed the car home and put a new (rebuilt 36HP) motor in it with parts from the dusty shelves of Mission Bay VW. I actually drove the car then sold it a year later. I still have pics if anyone is interested in tracking it down. I sold/traded it for a 58 single cab. The car went to a guy in Chula Vista, can't remember his name. I kept the single cab for a few years then sold that too. I still have the VIN tag for the 58 Rometsch if the original owner is interested. It sits in my Kennedy toolbox to this day. I forgot to give it to the kid in Chula Vista that bought the car.

Soggy B. Floyd said...

I can post pictures of the test drive if anyone is interested. I felt obligated to at least drive the car once before I sold it. Mike