Volkswagon Beetle

[jmehner]

Im almost sure its 1939. The original owner has written 1939 on the corner of the photo. Also the other photos of the same town with the same date, show german national buses with the swastika on the sides. I dont think they would have been allowed with the swastika after 1945 ?
Ian

Well,

we all know what a fickle thing memory may be and loose photos are not necessarily in chronological order- an unwatermarked look at the license plate(s) on the right would make certain if it is 1939 or 1949.

Cheers,

JM

[JackHyv]

Here are the colours used then:
1938-1939
schwarz (black) RAL 9005, blaugrau (bluegray) RAL 7011.
1939-1942
schwarz RAL 9005, grau RAL 6006 oder 7021, militärfarben, blaugrau RAL 7011, beige RAL 1002.

Jack

[i.spring]

hello every body. Im just back from Holidays so i did not get time to enjoy my beloved WAF but now, here are some close-ups of the VW photo and another nice shot from the same set, with the same date. Hope you enjoy and any further info is warmly welcome.
Ian

[i.spring]

[i.spring]

[i.spring]

from the same photo set:

[i.spring]

any opinions ?

[i.spring]

does any one have other photos of pre-war volkswagon beetles?
Also does anyone know how many of the 800 were produced in this gray blue colour?
Regards.
Ian

[Bill Murray]

Hi Ian:

A bit out of my area, but I believe the registration plates are Austrian, not German and I believe it is probably a prewar photo.

The chances of that many older vehicles surviving, and they are 100% prewar vehicles on your photos, is not real good. Of course, if it is Austria, not too much combat took place there.

A major clue, if you look at the advertising sign on the far right of your last photo, you can see the letters "sbruck" which means to me possibly Innsbruck. As well, the locale of the photo looks very (Alpinish) to me.

Edit: Forgot, Ferdinand Porsche, the man behind the Volkswagen was an Austrian..............
Bill

[Torpedomaat]

any opinions ?

Hello Ian,
They are obviously postwar photos.

There is a good site about the licence plates of the occupation zones.
http://www.hegis.de/frg3.htm

[jmehner]

Yes,

the cars on the square are definitely post-war and in the British zone of occupation, I can make out the "B" and possibly an "N" for "Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) below it- judging from the mint looks of the Volkswagen, it is post-war production.

The other photo could be pre-war and taken at a completely different location, please note that while the trailer showing "sbruck" is most likely from Innsbruck, it belongs to a freight forwarder ("Spediteure"), so it need not have been taken in Innsbruck. I see a black license plate on the truck nearest the camera and white plates on the car and the tank truck in front of it, so it could be taken pre-war in the German-Austrian (white German plates, black Austrian ones) border region or post-war after the change from Zone of Occupation plates (white on black) to the new German ones (black on white)- most likely down South, as evidenced by the topography visible in the background and far away from Niedersachsen, which is flat.

Oh, and a hint: Do not put your watermark/email address on areas of the picture that may help in determining the location, like your email address on the area where the license plate is at on the Opel P4 in your first new cropped shot.

Anyways, the Beetle photo is definitely and 101% post-war.

Cheers,

JM

[Bill Murray]

Not my thread, but may I say thanks to JM.

I made the wrong assumption that all photos were taken in the same place. Not good research methodology on my part.

Also liked the link on Occupation registration plates, did not have that one available to me before.

Regarding my comment about so many vehicles surviving, and bearing in mind that my military history interest is solely vehicles, not battles, were the two areas (possibly three) where the photos were taken areas where there was little or no combat during the war?? Note that the buildings all seem to be completely intact, the streets clean and unmarked etc.

Cheers
Bill