Skip to main content

Find of the Day Supplementary: Göring Beetle

Everyone knows that Hitler had a hand in the design of the Beetle. It’s one of the awkward historical realities that we all have to think about now and then. But there are Nazi Beetles and then there are Nazi Beetles. This is the latter.

That’s because this Beetle belonged to head of the Luftwaffe and all around Nazi scum (but I repeat myself), Hermann Göring. Sort of.

goring-beetle

If you believe the somewhat breathless account of the seller—what possible reason could he have to embellish the truth?—this was Göring’s daily. But the truth, as it so often is, is more complicated.

According to research that was, admittedly, conducted on the internet, this 1944 Type 82e was delivered to Hermann Göring’s office. Unfortunately, it seems that the Nazi leader was also a cretin, because he preferred to drive a Mercedes 540K to a people’s car. I know, the Nazis just keep getting worse.

s-l1600-6

Instead, this seems to have been one of a number delivered to Göring’s offices that were then likely handed over to officials.

This one, serial number 5033568 seems to have then come into the possession of a Frenchman by the name of Jacky Morel. It then moved to the States, and apparently into the ownership of this Texan.

s-l1600-5

Regardless of who actually drove it, this wartime Beetle is still one of a small number, since the allies had a policy of explosive diplomacy in 1944.

As a result of the bombing and just the age of these cars, there aren’t many of these Beetles kicking around. You’ll have to decide for yourself if that means that this particular piece of history with a strangely direct link to humanity’s darkest days is worth $525,000.

s-l1600-2

The post Find of the Day Supplementary: Göring Beetle appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex http://ift.tt/2mKli5Q
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Watch: The Story of the Ads that Made VW Big in America

The ads for the original Beetle are almost as famous and well-loved as the Beetle itself. Looking back now it’s easy to forget, though, just how easily things could have wrong. A new short from Dial M Films tracks the history of those early Volkswagen ads that sold America on the people’s car. The story, of course, begins with the visionary agency that made the ads: Doyle Dane Bernach (DDB). As a popular agency for Jewish products, no agency was more aware of the implications of Volkswagen, and no one, it seems, was more skeptical of the brand than DDB. “Remember Those Great Volkswagen Ads?” from Dial M Films on Vimeo . William Bernbach, though, was adament that the firm take the client, probably as a way of attracting other lucrative automotive clients. Saddled with a client that he didn’t want, art director Helmut Krone says in the film that he originally came up with ads that were all wrong. Krone tried to do what other manufacturers did and was intent on selling the Beetle ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Watch: The Stig Drives (nearly) Seven Generations of Golf GTI

With Volkswagen announcing “major” updates to the Golf, it seems an appropriate time to look back on what we’ve had so far. And who better to guide us through the rich history of the most popular European car ever made than Ben Collins, the former Stig? Some say he’s never met a GTI he doesn’t love, and that he can’t grow any of his own facial hair. All we know is … Ben Collins is actually a pretty solid presenter. Working his way through seven generations of the GTI (skipping over the Mk6) Collins tells us a little bit about each one and matches each mark to its corresponding facial hair craze. The Mk1 GTI for instance, is light and quick, but can lose traction under hard acceleration (in heavy rain). Despite that, Collins calls the Mk1 a “pure gem.” The Mk4, meanwhile, is a powerful return to form after the perhaps too sensible Mk3. Collins ends in the only way he could, with the Mk7, which accelerates faster than a Lamborghini Countach and is all kinds of wonderful. Watch, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Volkswagen Golf GTE Wins Top Honor at the 2015 Business Techies Awards

Golf GTE wins Green category in the 2015 BusinessCar Fleet Technology awards Judges praised the Golf GTE for its performance, ease of use and economy Golf GTE launched earlier this year with plug-in hybrid technology – priced from £33,755 204 PS performance combined with CO 2  emissions of just 39 g/km Volkswagen has added to its growing list of 2015 automotive industry accolades by winning the Green category in the annual BusinessCar Fleet Technology Awards – the Techies. The prestigious title was awarded to Volkswagen for the Golf GTE, an innovative plug-in hybrid that combines sporty dynamics with exceptional fuel economy and low CO 2  emissions. Now in their seventh year, the Techies are judged by both BusinessCar’s experienced editorial panel with help from TRL’s technology expert. The industry’s only technology-specific awards, the BusinessCar Techies reward the use of technology to make business car fleet operations easier, cheaper, cleaner, safer and more straig...
Post a Comment
Read more