First Beetle: Resurrecting a 1938 Prototype

A living legend§It is a little miracle on four wheels, discovered on a field in Eastern Europe by two of the most competent collectors of air-cooled Volkswagens: The 38 split window Beetle is one of three surviving prototypes of the VW 38, later also known as the KdF (Kraft durch Freude) car. The find is a sensation and electrifies the Beetle scene. §Today, the first Splitty Beetle is owned by VW restorers Traugott and Christian Grundmann. With incredible attention to detail and a brilliant support team, they breathe life back into the automotive fossil. When father and son first set eyes on it, the car was quietly rotting away on a field in the Lithuanian town of Vilnius. Now the vehicle with the chassis number 3806 is as black and shiny as it was more than 70 years ago. It is the pride and joy of the Grundmann collection. §With his camera, photographer and VW fanatic Axel Struwe accompanied the project from day one. His photos impressively document the rebirth of a legend. Renowned motoring journalist Clauspeter Becker also set out to trace the story of the first split window Beetle. His texts not only tell the story of this hand-built prototype designed by Ferdinand Porsche, but also describe the extraordinary challenges that came with its restoration.§Traugott Grundmann and his son Christian have a little piece of paradise in the Weser Hills: they have created their very own automobile museum for one of the most exclusive Volkswagen collections in the world. More than 50 old-timers, including many one-offs and special models, are displayed in all their splendor in Hessisch Oldendorf most of them were restored to their former glory in the Grundmann s workshop. The VW 38 is the exhibition s new shining star.§Axel Struwe leads two lives: one as a food photographer and qualified photo designer, the other as a passionate collector and restorer of VW old-timers. When the§German first heard that his friend Christian Grundmann had discovered a VW 38, it became obvious that he would not only support the project with his practical experience, but also document the journey with his camera. §Clauspeter Becker was three years old when the first split window Beetle appeared and he can vividly remember sitting in a VW 38 as a young lad in Berlin but in the back seat. As part of his research for this book, the renowned specialist journalist and book writer from Neuhausen near Stuttgart, who received the Johny-Rozendaal-Uhr award in 2010 for his entire oeuvre, finally got to take the steering wheel himself.