Coachbuilts at the 2009 Treffen

Better late than never, here are some of the coachbuilts at the 2nd International Southern California Vintage VW Treffen last Sunday at the Phoenix Club in Anaheim, California. Some nice coachbuilt VWs and Porsches turned out, among them Jesse James' newly restored '50 convertible, a nice unrestored '52 Porsche convertible, a pair of '57 Rometsch Beeskows, and a '58 Binz double cab.




























One of the highlights of the day was caravaning behind Ivan Pang's nice unrestored '53 sedan. Great to see such a well-preserved piece of history holding its own on the Los Angeles freeways.

Rometsch sunroof coupe, Mechanix Illustrated magazine, December 1960

One of only a handful of Rometsch Lawrence sunroof coupes ever built was pictured in the December 1960 issue of Mechanix Illustrated.



It's hard to be sure, but it appears to be a 1958 model.

Patrick Baptist of the Karmann-Ghia Lowlight Registry has recently taken it upon himself to compile a list of all remaining Lawrence coupes. From his research I've already been able to determine that the Lawrence coupe that I once considered buying still exists, probably somewhere in Japan. You can follow his progress here and here. I wonder if this sunroof coupe is still out there anywhere?

VW 1500 introduction in Foreign Car Guide, June 1961

Foreign Car Guide was kind of the American equivalent of the UK's Safer Motoring—it pretended to be interested in all small cars but it was really all about Volkswagen. Like most other auto magazines of the time, Foreign Car Guide reported on the early official news leak from VW about the new 1500. The article goes into a thoughtful analysis of the market forces and strategic thinking that led VW to provide information about the 1500 to the press so far in advance of its official debut in September 1961, and speculates accurately about VW's reasons for not bringing the 1500 to the U.S.






Most of the article's speculation about the 1500 is right on the money, except for the guesstimate of a wheelbase 6 inches longer than the beetle. It compares the 1500 to the Corvair in a way that was typical of the U.S. auto press at the time, suggesting that the Variant's styling was reminiscent of the Corvair Lakewood station wagon. Maybe in its configuration, but I'm just not seeing the visual resemblance.



The cover of the June issue featured the Devin D, one of the nicest looking VW-based specials of the early '60s. Something less than a coachbuilt and something more than a kit car, its lines have aged more gracefully than most. A Devin with an Okrasa engine and a few other old speed bits would be just the thing.

2008 VW Classic Weekend: 1956 Karmann Cabriolet

Amidst all the over-the-top show cars on display at the DKP event was this tastefully unrestored Karmann Cabriolet. The polar silver paint and red interior mark it as a late '56 or early '57, I think. It's great to see such a well-preserved original car showing the patina of 50 years of use (but not abuse). It has an Okrasa engine with an equally nice patina, which suggests either a vintage performance engine that has been with the car for many years or an owner who has gone to a lot of effort to make it look that way.


No guys, not over there. It's right in front of you.




No flash, just the right balance of originality and rare performance-oriented parts. Subtle and very cool. Kudos to the owner for knowing what the car didn't need. My favorite car of the event.

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?

VW Classic 2007: 1950 Tempo Matador

This truck is about as far from a VW 1500 as it gets, but I just had to post some photos of it. What an incredible restoration. The attention to detail is mindblowing. Jonny Lieberman and I saw it as soon as we entered the show, and we just stood there slackjawed like everyone else. Then we remembered to start taking pictures.



It's a strange looking thing, but the design has a great integrity. Tempo built the VW-based Matador from 1949–51, until VW stopped supplying engines due to its competition with with the Transporter. Less than 1400 were built and only a handful of them survive, making the high level of this restoration even more incredible. I believe that's the gas tank right behind the front sheet metal, in front of the driver (!). Love those suicide doors.


The interior is a little on the spartan side, as you'd expect.


The seat had been removed to reveal the 25hp engine mounted under the seat, under a transverse leaf spring with the transmission forward. It's a mid-engined front-wheel-drive aircooled VW truck. Strange and very, very cool.


A nice detail I've never seen before in photos is the design of the back of the cab, with its reference to the shape of the VW hood.



Everything about this one is right. No detail was overlooked, including the cargo.


To me it was the standout of the show. Makes the 1500 Ghia seem ordinary in comparison.

VW Classic 2007: 1959 Rometsch cabriolet

There are dozens of nicely restored VWs at every Classic, but there are always a few that really stand out. Today this '59 Rometsch cabriolet was one of them.


It has an Okrasa engine and Abarth exhaust. Nice.



It was for sale for an impressively high asking price. I had a chance to buy a '58 Rometsch coupe for $1000 about 25 years ago but passed it up -- still kicking myself about that one.