VW38 found in Lithuania

[Cedric_s]

Amazing thread om the Samba





http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/vie...61c515a19c16d6

[dieselraver]

Amazing thread om the Samba



http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/vie...61c515a19c16d6

wow, looks like some mad tyte euro snob got a hold of it and some rust paint!

j/k great find

[Benjamin.]

Definitely a repost from back when this was actually posted (2 years ago), but I can't find it quickly with a couple basic search terms, and there have been a lot of updates on that thread since then

[patrikman]

Those leaf springs are throwing me for a loop.

[ChrisR18T]

Those leaf springs are throwing me for a loop.

In the thread, it says that the car body was butchered onto a Volga chassis, thus explaining the leaf springs.

I have been following this thread since the car was discovered, a very interesting read.

[AKADriver]

It might help those of us who aren't VW fanatics to explain what a VW38 is. I gather it's an extremely early, pre-war vehicle... but that Samba thread goes directly into obsessing over details and doesn't adequately explain what I'm looking at.

It reminds me of a similar find of what's believed to be a Toyota AA in eastern Russia. The Toyota AA was the first production Toyota and none were known to survive; even the one in Toyota's own museum is a handmade replica.



The car had a similar hard life, kept alive by a farmer's ingenuity and the use of random soviet car and tractor parts...

[patrikman]

In the thread, it says that the car body was butchered onto a Volga chassis, thus explaining the leaf springs.

I have been following this thread since the car was discovered, a very interesting read.

Aha! I didn't have the patience to go over the whole thread. I consider myself pretty well versed in prewar VW ( I wrote a paper on it in high school) so I knew something must be up.

[ChrisR18T]

It might help those of us who aren't VW fanatics to explain what a VW38 is.

You are right on the very early pre war part.

Its also actually a factory pre production prototype car, thats why there is so much hype over this car. this car I believe was determined as #6 as in the 6th prototype made in 1938.

[AKADriver]

You are right on the very early pre war part.

Its also actually a factory pre production prototype car, thats why there is so much hype over this car. this car I believe was determined as #6 as in the 6th prototype made in 1938.

Ah ha. So very similar to the AA's story, then.

[Cedric_s]

It reminds me of a similar find of what's believed to be a Toyota AA in eastern Russia. The Toyota AA was the first production Toyota and none were known to survive; even the one in Toyota's own museum is a handmade replica.

There is another AA also found in Russia in 2008. It is in the dutch Louwman museum



http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/foru...1de6488e34fc78

[Air and water do mix]

In the thread, it says that the car body was butchered onto a Volga chassis, thus explaining the leaf springs.

I have been following this thread since the car was discovered, a very interesting read.

Well, that's what I get for posting before reading the article!

[zerovdub]

nice!
I want that garage with the lift and the english wheel!

[Cedric_s]

[sirswank]

spent 5 hours, only got up to page 80... will continue tomorrow

[r_fostoria]

Wait, those are both the same car!? I thought the top was just a pic for reference! That is absolutely incredible!

[Air and water do mix]

Wait, those are both the same car!? I thought the top was just a pic for reference! That is absolutely incredible!

That it is. I checked the end of the Samba thread and read some stuff about it. It's amazing that they were able to scrounge that many parts from that era. They found a pickle fork (chassis) from '38, the engine case is a '39 and I couldn't tell you how much other stuff they had to come-up with. Just finding a carburetor of that vintage is a very tough proposition. Sure, if you're only doing a '46 model it's "easy", but a '38? Daaaaaaaamn.

There are several steps going back in vintage VWs that makes them harder to restore. If I want something for my '66, I simply go on-line and buy it. If you want something for a 40-horse or a 36er, it's a little tougher. Want parts for your Oval window? Not too tough for most things on the '56-'57. Go back to '55 and it gets harder. Pre '49? Be patient and have a big wallet. Pre war? Holy crap that's hard!

[lowredcabrio]

incredible build.

[Hogan]

This is really really cool, and all history aside, I think people like this are amazing, the kind of person that can take one look at a car and say, "oh, well those door hinges don't look quite right." or something along those lines, especially when the car in question is over 70 years old, and only a small handful ever existed to begin with.

[patrikman]

I wish I had the patience to read the whole Samba thread.

[BattleRabbit]

In for later!

[gnavs]

This is really really cool, and all history aside, I think people like this are amazing, the kind of person that can take one look at a car and say, "oh, well those door hinges don't look quite right." or something along those lines, especially when the car in question is over 70 years old, and only a small handful ever existed to begin with.

Exactly what I was thinking. A vast majority of the populace would take one look at it and say "Rusty Beetle".
In for later indeed!

[Diamond Dave]

I wish I had the patience to read the whole Samba thread.

Agreed. Can someone get a meaningful cliff's notes?

[duke of chucchinchilla]

Agreed. Can someone get a meaningful cliff's notes?

I ran out of energy, but they eventually figured out it was VW38 #6 which means it was the 6th car produced in the first batch of prototypes (of what would become the production version).

[08-Jetta]

Amazing build. I love all of the knowledge each of the people who posted in that thread added. Being that I know next to nothing about those cars, it's cool to see all of the minute differences that car has. I'll be reading that thread for days / weeks. Thanks for posting it here

[izzo]

I am at page 38 right now, two hours already...

[The Igneous Faction]

Agreed. Can someone get a meaningful cliff's notes?

The first post now has a table of contents charting all of the important developments.

[eunos94]

I started 'turtle heading' around page 100 but was so into it I let that baby grow.

In honor of the thread that helped develop the 12lb turtle I gave birth too 3 hours later. I named it "38".

[eunos94]

Double Post time.

I love that Porsche and Volkswagen allowed them to take measurements, casts and molds from their museum cars in exchange for reproduction parts to make their own cars more authentic.

I wonder what number 6 would fetch at auction? Seriously isn't this the oldest 38 in existence?

[Lupo TDI]

Double Post time.

I love that Porsche and Volkswagen allowed them to take measurements, casts and molds from their museum cars in exchange for reproduction parts to make their own cars more authentic.

I wonder what number 6 would fetch at auction? Seriously isn't this the oldest 38 in existence?

I don't know how much this would fetch, but it has to be a pretty penny. It isn't the oldest one as VW has 38 number 3 but this seems to be the most authentic one, at least this is what I picked up reading through the whole samba thread. It is truly an amazing story and I will try to go to Hamburg to see the exhibit.

[duke of chucchinchilla]

Double Post time.

I love that Porsche and Volkswagen allowed them to take measurements, casts and molds from their museum cars in exchange for reproduction parts to make their own cars more authentic.

I wonder what number 6 would fetch at auction? Seriously isn't this the oldest 38 in existence?

Could you elaborate? I missed that part...but then again there are SO MANY PAGES TO READ!

[Here's Johnny]

in to start reading tomorrow

[eunos94]

Could you elaborate? I missed that part...but then again there are SO MANY PAGES TO READ!

Volkswagen sent over number 3 for them to measure, photograph and document. The original photos of number 6 were also made available to keep this car as original and accurate as possible. The main reason they went to all this trouble is that number 3 is actually a pretty piss poor 1950's restoration with inaccurate details all over the place. To get those right they need to recreate many of the original parts such as the speedometer, shift pattern, glove box doors etc.

So every time they made a part. They made three. So Volkswagen can restore their own cars correctly. Porsche did some similar things but not a lot of that was posted in English. So sadly I don't know all the details. It's a lot to absorb, sort through and read but... G'damn it's the oldest civilian owned Volkswagen.

[Chapel]

so, what exactly is a VW38?

[AdrockMK2]

Wait, those are both the same car!? I thought the top was just a pic for reference! That is absolutely incredible!

I didn't bother to go to the Samba thread, but that's the part I don't understand. The red one has a late model type rear window and some random filler cap in the C-pillar...the black one is an early split window.

[izzo]

Could you elaborate? I missed that part...but then again there are SO MANY PAGES TO READ!

First post of the thread, there is a breakdown on what happens on what page.
I finished reading the thread today, awesome stuff.
My hat is off to those people; blogging it right now!