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Greetings & info on VWs??

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  • Member since
    November 2005
Greetings & info on VWs??
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, January 13, 2004 9:12 AM
G'day everybody,
Well, I'm not from around here. You'll normally find me hanging around the armour or diorama forums.However I have just about finished my first car, a monogram 1953 corvette ( My wife just bought me an awesome limited edition model of the V8 interceptor from mad max for christmas and the 'vette is my first practice model ).
My next one is a 1/35th scale of an old VW for a WWII diorama I'm doing. The model I've got is actuaally a type 87 military version, but I am going to convert it to a type 60.
The model I have has a canvas roof that folds back sort of like a big sun roof ( not a convertable ). I have seen images of VWs from the 50s with this but does anyone know if the civilian bugs from the 40s had this as well? The info I have seems to indicate that it was added on for the military version.
I'd would appreciate any info or helpful links you could give me.
Thanks, Wacky
  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Dahlonega, Georgia
Posted by lizardqing on Wednesday, January 14, 2004 2:44 PM
I'm not sure of an answer but I will forward your question to VW freak of a friend of mine and see what he says for you.
  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Dahlonega, Georgia
Posted by lizardqing on Friday, January 16, 2004 3:25 PM
Wacky- here's the answer my friend sent to me hope it helps you out.

"First of all...if is a pretty detailed type 87, it will not be real convincing as a type 60 as the type 87 was 4-wheel drive! It also had a little bit greater ground clearance than the 60 (about 2 extra inches) to make it more usable off road.They were deployed in places like Africa where the use of 4-wheel drive was necessary. It was hot as hell so they also incorporated the "sliding rag" top. It's the top he is talking about that looks like a convertible, but isn't. Now, the type 60, was a 2-wheel drive civilian model from the same years as the 87. It WAS available with the sliding rag top. The public also liked the open air, so the sliding rag and full convertible (cabriolet) were both popular. The Type 60, aka KdF-Wagen, had different names during it's development. They are sometimes the called the VW38 or VW39 depending on the year they were made. The VW38 and VW39 were mostly progressions made on the original prototype, the V3. The "KdF" actually comes from the Kraft durch Freude movement, which was the propaganda campaign by the Nazi party to try to convince people to work hard for the Nazis and you can earn a car. You could have money withheld from your weekly paycheck for the purchase of savings stamps to put toward a car. ...Anyway, the car was officially launched at the 1939 Berlin Auto Show, where is was called the KdF-Wagen, and people eventually started to refer to them as the Type 60.
The Type 87 (Kommandeurwagen) that he has is actually closer in mechanics to the Type 166 Schwimmwagen amphibious car, but they look totally different! The Nazis did make another version based on the Type 87, it was the Type 82E. It was basically the same car, just 2-wheel drive. They even fitted some of these cars with wood burning conversions when fossil fuel supplies were dwindling!

If you want my opinion, I would build the Type 87 as is. That really was a awesome car."

Yes he is a VW fanatic and I hope that info comes in handy for you. He said he has some pics to if that could help you out.
  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, January 22, 2004 7:03 AM
COOL!! That's all the info I need and more. Awesome! Thanks for your help chris. I think I'll take his advice and leave the car as is. It's one that was stationed in Africa so I'll just set my dio there.
Thanks again chris.
  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Dahlonega, Georgia
Posted by lizardqing on Thursday, January 22, 2004 10:07 AM
No problem, glad I could help. Hope you can get some pics of it up, I'm sure my friend would love to see them to.
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