As loud as an angry wild beast and even faster than that is the Mercedes-Benz SSK. SSK stands for Super Sport Kurz (Super Sports Short) due to the short wheel base of 116 in.
This was to make the car more agile for racing. The car was designed by Ferdinand Porsche before he founded his own company.
From 1928 to 1932 only 33 cars were built, about half of them as racing cars. With a top speed of 120 mph the Mercedes-Benz SSK was the fasted car of its time. The engine was a supercharged seven litre straight-6 engine producing 200-300 metric horsepower.
Not only in the hands of racing driver Rudolf Caracciola, was the car driven to victory in numerous races. Many cars were crashed during those races and the parts used for over 100 still existing replicas. Only four or five original cars still exist. As you can imagine they are some of the most sought after cars in the world. A replica of the SSK is now built in Uruguay.
The Opel Kapitän was the last Opel model produced before the outbreak of WW2.
It was presented at the Geneva Motor Show in spring 1939. The pre-war Kapitän was available as a 2-door saloon, a 4-door saloon, and a convertible. The most popular though was the 4-door saloon.
The Kapitän inherited the 2.5 L engine from the Opel Super Six with a maximum speed of 118 km/h (73 mph) and a 3-speed manual. Before the civilian Opel production stopped in 1940 25,371 units were produced, and in 1943 three more followed to make a total of 25,374 units.
In 1948 after WW2 the Opel Kapitän was produced again with little changes and only as a 6 cylinder 4-door saloon, with a maximum speed of 126 km/h (78.3 mph). The design changes were round headlights and different bumpers and hubcaps. From 1948 to 1951 30,431 cars were built. The car produced from 1951 to 1953 had a slightly modernized design but was technically much the same. 48,563 cars were produced.
At the end of 1954 a completely new Kapitän was introduced. It was longer and wider but still had a 6-cylinder engine. From 1957 on a 4-speed overdrive was optional.
In 1958 the P1 Kapitän came to market followed by the P2 in 1959, the Kapitän A in 1964, and the Kapitän B in 1969. Production ended in 1970.
After the Type 1 (the Beetle) and the Type 2 (the Transporter) Volkswagen produced the Type 3.
The basics and the wheel base of the Volkswagen 1500/1600 were identical to the Beetle. The engine was an improved Beetle flat engine with also improved air cooling system. The models were the Variant, known as Squareback in the USA. It was the estate version. The saloon versions were the Notchback (Stufenheck) and the Fastback (Fliessheck). A convertible was announced but never built.
From 1961 to 1973 more than 2.5 million cars were produced. The Type 3 was much more a family car than the Type 1. There was more space for the passengers and for the luggage, as the engine was located under a panel in the rear boot.
The originally single- or dual-carburetted 1.5 L engine was upgraded to a 1.6 L engine in 1966. In 1968 the 1600 was the first car with electronic fuel injection pioneered by Bosch. This was the 1600E version. E stands for Einspritzung, the German word for injection.
Specifications
German production 1961-1973 – Notchback/Fastback: 1,339,124, Variant: 1,202,935
Class – compact car
Body styles – 2-door estate car, 2-door coupe, 3-door hatchback
After having passed the driving test in 1982, I really hated to drive my mum’s old Beetle.
For some reason I always managed to kill the engine and sometimes wasn’t even able to start the car again. Today I’d be more than happy to have a Bug.
Even though I was of the opinion that my mum’s Beetle hated me, the cars generally were pretty reliable and of course high build quality. And the sound of the engine was somehow unique.
They haven’t been the most sold German cars until 2002, for no reason, have they? More than 21.5 million units were sold from 1938 to 2003, 330,000 of them were convertibles. 15.8 million cars were produced in Germany.
Before WW2 the idea was to produce a car that is affordable for most people. The idea of manufacturing a Volkswagen (the people’s car) is much older though. More or less responsible for the design of the Beetle was Ferdinand Porsche. This is why the Beetle often was called Kugelporsche in Germany. Kugel is a German word for ball or sphere.
The production of civilian Volkswagen cars did not start until after WW2. The official name at that time was KdF-Wagen and refers to Kraft durch Freude (Strength Through Joy), the leisure organization during the Third Reich. Later it was Type 1 before it was named Beetle after WW2. During the war, the Beetle was produced for military use only. Mechanically it was to be as simple as possible.
After WW2 the Volkswagen factory at Wolfsburg was under British control and was to be dismantled and shipped to Britain. Luckily no British car manufacturer was interested in the factory. Thanks to the British Army officer Major Ivan Hirst, who was able to convince the British Army to order 20,000 cars, the factory survived.
After Heinz Nordhoff was appointed director of the Volkswagen Factory the production increased. The one-millionth car came off the assembly line in 1955.
The K 70 was originally designed to be the new mid-size car of NSU, as the cars of the Prinz series were too small and the Ro 80 to outlandish for the NSU customers.
One year before the Ro 80 should be on the market the designer of the Ro 80 Claus Luthe was asked to design the pretty square-edged K 70. The bosses of NSU wanted a classical saloon car. And even though the car gave a pretty conservative impression, it had features most mid-size cars of its time didn’t have.
There was enough passenger space for a family, four doors, and a really big boot for several big suitcases. It had a front water-cooled 1.6 L piston engine with 70 PS (51 kW/ 69 hp) and front wheel drive. The K was by the way standing for the German word Kolben (piston), in contrast to the Ro standing for rotary engine.
The car was to be presented to the public on the Geneva Motor Show in 1969, but Volkswagen took over NSU. And at that time it wasn’t too sure whether the car would ever be presented because it was too close in size and to Volkswagen’s Audi 100. But as Volkswagen was in need of a new family car the K 70 was first sold in 1970, now under the name of Volkswagen. From 1970 to 1974 more than 210,000 cars were produced.
When Ernst Heinkel first saw the Isetta in Italy in March 1954, he wanted to build a car to compete with it.
Back in Germany his design engineers designed a car and the first design drawings were shown in May the very same year. The Heinkel Kabine (Heinkel Cabin Cruiser) was designed to have a 200 cc engine and 8“ wheels. It was to have a kerb weight of no more than 175 kg and a maximum speed of 75 km/h.
In August the same year the so far final design drawings were made. It was a three wheeler with a front door.
The production though didn’t start before March 1956 due to many changes that had to be made. And due to engine problems only 54 of the 96 cars produced then were sold.
The production first started with a 175 cc engine which was shortly afterwards upgraded to a 204 cc engine due to tax reasons. But as the result of a tax law change it was reduced to a 198 cc engine again. This car was a four wheeler with narrow rear track. The four wheelers never got to the UK though, because it was much cheaper to drive a three wheeler, they paid not even half as much road tax as the four wheelers.
During the next 1.5 years 11,000 cars were produced the production went up to 700 cars per month.
From 1956 car kits were sent to Ireland for assembly. Tax wise it was cheaper than to send the whole cars. In 1958 the production started in Dundalk, but the engines and axles still came from Germany. Form October 1958 to August 1961 about 5000 cars were build. From 1961 to 1964 6100 cars were manufactured in England at Trojan and from then on were called Heinkel Trojan. From 1957 to 1961 also 2000 cars were produced in Alejo in Argentina. They also got the engines and axles from Germany.
Until 2007 Bulli was the unofficial name of the Volkswagen Transporter.
In 2007 the Kaessbohrer company sold the rights to the name to Volkswagen. The T1 was the first of the T-series and produced from 1950 to 1967. First in Wolfsburg and later in Hanover.
Three different models were produced, the minibus (VW Bus), the panel van (VW Kastenwagen), and the pick up truck (VW Pritschenwagen). Typical for the T1 was the split windscreen. The early T1 had the Beetle flat-4 engine, a flat engine with 4 cylinders, and 25 hp, rear-wheel drive, drum brakes and a swing axle in the rear and torsion springs. The coachwork was constructed for a payload of more than 900 kg.
The T2 (1967-1979) was an improved version of the T1 and the T3 (1979-1992) had a totally different design and was bigger. The T4(1990-2003) was the first with front-wheel drive, and the T5 (since 2003) is the latest model.
A story of the Glas Isar, Isard or Royal. One car, but different names for different countries.
Almost 87,000 of the ‘Large Goggomobil’ were produced between 1958 and 1965. A little more than 14,000 of the models were station wagons, mostly with the 700 cc engine.
It was an attempt to produce a regular size car, in comparison to the smaller Goggomobils. The Isar T600 and T700. The first models of the Isar T700 (Royal T700 sedan, Isard T700 sedan) had a twin Bing’s carb, but from August 1960 on it was changed to a Solex 32 PCI carb. It had rear wheel drive, a fully synchronized 4-speed manual transmission, and a single disc dry clutch.
Even though it was supposed to be a regular size car, it was sitll pretty small with a length of less than 3.5 metres and a curb weight of 650 kg. Compared to American cars at least. In 1960 not only the carb changed, but also the design. The roof line was higher, the rear window and the rear lights were bigger.
As about 70% of all Porsche cars, that have ever been produced, are still on the roads, Porsche Classic in Stuttgart, Germany has a worldwide distribution not only of classic car parts, but also workshop manuals and more. Either originally old parts or reproductions of old parts. You can also find workshops for car restoration and upholstery at Porsche Classic Stuttgart.
More information of where in your country you can get those parts you can find on the Porsche website.
