(Click on the pics to enlarge.)
Right from the beginning the convertible had been part of the VW history.
Even in the early testing series there where convertibles. Here are some examples.
All these open cars had in common that their shape was very much as the look of the sedans.
They just had an foldable roof wich was constucted to look like the sedans one when closed.
Also the engine lid was not differend shaped, compared to the sedans. Just the windscreen usually
had a more rectangular shape.
Close after the war there appeared some verts and they followed that same concept.
Just their winscreens tell that some seem to be made of former sedan bodies.
After the summer of 1948 the Hebmüllercompany started to build the four seater VW police convertible.
In general this car also followed the common concept but it had some features based on its special use.
For example the very simple roof and instead of doors just four cotton fabric doors and covered chains to
keep the police men from falling out of the car. These where just build in the years 1948 and 1949.
After the war the volkswagen company was conducted under the name "Wolfsburg Motorworks" by the british
allied forces. The british military commander for the Wolfburg area was colonel Charles Radclyffe.
The responsible manager in Wolfsburg became major Ivan Hirst.
As usual back then Radclyffe got a Volkswagen to cover his driving demand.
But not one of the common cars as they where made for the CCG, the Control Commission for Germany. He got
a convertible whose lines reminded more at a coupe than a sedan. The semaphores sat as seen on verts before
in the front quarter panels due to the missing b-pilar. But all new was the shortened roof wich left no room
for rear quarter windows and most of all the optical extended rear end with an engine lid that reminded much
at the front hood. Over all a sporty and speedy looking shape, compared with the formerly known ones.
Also new was the totally into the body foldable roof wich was not visible anymore when opened. Not anymore
the usual large collar of the folded roof in the back. That invisible roof needed the rear seats space but
that was excuseable to that beautiful car.
The Volkswagen wholesale dealer Gottfried Schultz from the city of Essen was a friend of the VW managing
director Nordhoff. He oftentimes had been in Wolfsburg and was also a friend of the Hebmüller family.
It seems the Radclyffe car was very impressive to him when he had seen it in Wolfsburg.
He animated the Hebmüllers to build one like that and compared, the alikeness is obviously.
The allready nice shape was supported by the shiny chrome package the prototypes got.
With the chromed bumpers, handles and hubcaps the car surely looked very luxurious.
New where the side trim stripes wich where liked a lot by the Wolfsburg management. They decided to add
them to the export version of the sedan that was planed for the next year 1949.
Along with that export model Norhoff wanted to offer a convertible version to the customers.
While they had no experiance in Wolfsburg in serial convertible manufacturing they decided to let that be
done by specialised companies. So the suggestion from Wuppertal came at the right time. Three prototypes
where made and they where checked to fulfill the Wolfsburg quality expections.
Here the first car. Prototype no.1
Here the second car. Prototype no.2
I just have one picture of the third. Prototype no.3
It seems the second car was worked over some time later. He got the roof, the side windows and
other parts of the final serial version. Here you see him a year later in the garden of the Schultz
family. Prototype no.2
The tests in Wolfsburg where successful after problems with bad welding quality and cracking windscreens where
solved. In early 1949 the final shape was found and Wolfsburg ordered 675 of the type 14A called cars at
Hebmüller. Until today the flowing lines with the remarkable shaped engine lid please the eye.
Here are pics of the first serial type 14A.
At the same time where also ordered convertibles at the Karmann company in Osnabrück.
But they where four-seaters and their lines followed more the common sedan shape.
In the VW typology that is the type 15.
At Hebmüller at that time nice drawings where made wich show the type 14 in never realised color combinations.
One showed even a coupe with a steel top.
This coupe was realised as a one of and was used inside the Hebmüller family.
As far as known it did not survive and was scrapped long ago.
The serial production started and the customers and the media reacted very positive on the new car.
It often is written that the order was upgraded to 2000 cars. I personally do not believe that.
Unfortunately into this good start a tragedy happened. At July the 23. 1949 a big fire started in the main
factory in Wuppertal-Wülfrath. It destroyed almost the hole plant.
The Hebmüllers tried to go on in the production as fast as possible. Simple steelframed
halls where builded up to be able to fulfill the orders. Along to that the rebuilding of
the burned away factory was started. The following months where the most productive ones
for the type 14. More than 350 cars where build just in 1949.
Im the year 1949 the car was was shown on several fairs.
Here at the AFO (Rebuild and Progress) in Wuppertal and
at the first Berlin car show after the war.
Even when the production slowed in 1950 there where still made more than 300 cars.
This package of cars was intended to be sended to switzerland.
The big finanzial efforts that were needed to rebuild the factory in a modern way, were not covered
by the insurances the Hebmüllers had. In spite of the well filled order books the banks gave no more
credits and so the financial crisis grew bigger and bigger. That at least ended with the bankruptcy
in may 1952. Even in 1951 there was almost no type 14 builded. In 1952 where some cars build up at
the Karmann factory in Osnabrück to satisfy some VW customers orders wich still wanted to get a type 14.
Here is a list wich I just copied. I have no proof of it beeing true that way.
There is a strong myth about at least one car build up at Karmann with an oval-beetle styled dash.
On a car builded in late 1952 or even in 1953 that would not be a big surprise. It is still not prooved but
there are some cars around with an oval dash. Most of them are obviously updatet somewhen later in the 50s or 60s
but still there are cars that have to be prooved maybe to find the real one that was originaly builded that way.
The type 14A made by the Hebmüller company was loved since it apeared in 1949.
Compared to the verts made by Karmann it always was something more special and not "just" a beetle vert.
His shape makes him unique and its rareness wich existed even in its production years seperated him from the
other VW verts from the beginning. He united the sympathy of the beetle with the exotic of a small numbers
coachbuild sportscar. That might be the reason for still existing about 140 cars of almost 700 builded ones
and roughly just the same amount of survivers of about 10 000 builded split verts made at Karmann.
Here are two pics of Paul and Erich Hebmüller, taken in 1985.
They where rightly proud of the cars out of their production.
The painting shows the big press for the hoods and is owned by the family still.
Here poses Lieselotte Hebmüller the wife of Paul Hebmüller.
Between the pics are 47 years.
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