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Browsing Category Eastern Bloc Cars

Designed in Duroplast: Sachsenring P70

in Eastern Bloc Cars on 12/14/2019 12/14/2019 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email

Chances are good you’ve at least heard of the Trabant, national car of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR); but the Trabant wasn’t invented overnight. This dour gentleman is standing next to a Sachsenring P70 –…

East Germany in California: Wartburg 311/2

in Eastern Bloc Cars on 11/05/2019 11/08/2019 Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email

No, those California black plates don’t lie, this is an East German Wartburg 311/2 convertible that was sold new in Los Angeles, in what is now Arlington Heights. In the late 1950s, an enterprising car…

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$Convertible factored into the evolution of the VW Beetle very early on - the prototype “V2” and circa-1938 KdF type 803 were both quite similar to what emerged later. But the war postponed the arrival of the Volkswagen and any real consumer-oriented convertible thereof. Crawling out from the rubble and facing a very uncertain future, VW solicited convertible designs to expand the appeal of the only product it had, which resulted in a pair of factory-sanctioned droptop Beetles from Karmann and Hebmüller. The latter was devastated by a fire that summer, and only about 700 of the pretty 2-seat “Hebs” were made. Karmann, on the other hand, would continue producing it’s 4-place cabrio until January of 1980. - Cabriolets were only a fraction of overall Beetle production, but they were popular right up until the end. Cutting off the top of the #Beetle sedan made both convertibles flexible flyers - so for production there were structural changes including beefed up sills and some rigid bracing. The Cabriolet was also a fairly luxurious item by the standards of the original Beetle, and got moreso over time. The VW was designed to be simple and spartan, the Cabriolet, with a full headliner and insulation underneath it’s fabric top and a variety of other luxury touches (ashtrays, wheel trim rings, a vanity mirror - simple stuff but not seen on regular #Beetles for years afterward), was a totally different concept. - The thickness of the top gave the car its distinctive look when the top was down - revealing it as the old-fashioned 1930s touring car it was. With the huge top folded, the rear-view mirror pivoted upwards to compensate for the enormous blind spot it created. Changes to the Cabriolet, essentially a hand-built car, followed those of the regular sedan. Changes were many but probably the biggest was the advent of the Super Beetle in 1971, with its MacPherson struts up front. All Cabrios were Supers, like this one, after that year. Big bumpers were soon to join thanks to U.S. regs. By the very end, the car had achieved a certain “future collectible” status, at least in the USA, and a rather high price too. In all, 331,847 were made by the time production ended.$

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