A real fake VW

What is the chance that the wife of 'Reich Commissioner' Seys Inquart has been driving somewhere between 1940-1945 in a Beetle from 1948?

Beetle or monkey sandwich?

When Eef Peeters, owner of the Arnhem War Museum 40-45 in Zeeland, ran into the car of - according to say and according to various papers - the wife of the former Reich Commissioner Arthur Seyss Inquart, he thought he had found gold for his museum. It turned silver. Or bronze. Or, according to some critical minds, the bad buy of the century, not including the JSF. After some research, the VW Beetle is not one of them between 40-45, but in all probability it dates from largely 1948-1950.

But details such as the 'war lamp' on the front screen, the KDF hubcaps and the samples. footboard for the passenger, the all-terrain tires make the VW look 'real'. The trunk on the roof also seems original. According to the documentation, the car was owned by Gertrud Seyss Inquart. Anyway: the 'militarized' spectacle beetle must have suffered an adventurous life.

It looks exactly like a highly rare Type 82E 4WD or a Commander's car T 87

These were usually 4WD vehicles that were built on the chassis of 'Kübelwagen' in the period that Frau Seyss Inquart should have driven this car. The Typ 82 E was a beetle carriage on the off-road chassis of the VW Typ 82, the 'Kübelwagen'. Only the Typ 82 E did not have an 4WD. The Type 87 had 4WD. That T 82  The models and T 87s are now untraceable or unaffordable.

An authentic historical find at the bakery in Burg Haamstede in Zeeland.
In the Netherlands it is full of hidden treasures. Or is it: "If something seems too good to be true, then it is usually not true either." And why did the beetle live in Zeeland for so long? "Our Zeelanders are crazy". And that means being careful with things. Because when it comes to enjoying the good life, Zeelanders are not 'foolish', but rather Burgundian.

The car would have ended up in Zeeland through all kinds of wanderings and the owners (apparently originally from Brabant, and no Zeelanders *) would have had no knowledge of and no interest and time for old cars. The idea was to put 'the cart' as a spotlight for the store. Just until he was rusted away. An extra exciting detail: over the years German tourists would have thrown all kinds of war things into the car. Boots. Documentation. Militaria ... According to the stories, the beetle was a kind of place of pilgrimage for German tourists who remembered 40-45 well.

According to other stories, the Brabant / Zeeland owners of the spectacle beetle were not so uninhibited. They would - never as club members of the Air-cooled Volkswagen Club - have 'converted' old beetles into 'Kriegs Käfer'. And that seems to be a possibility in this case rather than that the VW really belonged to Frau Seys Inquart. But whether he has roots at the time when the phenomenon was not even called 'Volkswagen', but KdF (Kraft durch Freude, the Nazi political movement that had to structure leisure time in Nazi Germany)?

But museum owner Eef Peeters was told exactly what he wanted at the VW

There were even 'war number plates' with swept crosses in the car. How really do you want it? The baker from Zeeland seemed honest. He told the story as he knew it. Upon hearing the preliminary facts behind the find, he immediately announced that he wanted to cancel the purchase. Eef Peeters did not respond to that neat offer. The car was, after all, about Gertrud Seyss Inquart and the spectacle beetle has brought quite a few extra visitors to the track of the Arnhem museum 40-45.

Because 'de Vondst' buzzed nationwide through the media

The regional newspaper De Gelderlander first gave the news cheering and broadcasting. And later said goodbye to the story with another article and an acidic editorial. What says a lot about the current Media is that the name of the museum owner was spelled as 'Peters' instead of 'Peeters' in 90% of the cases.

It was a bit silly that 'the fault' of the deception was placed on the museum owner. The story was substantiated under. In England they would smile with the tongue in the cheek: "Never spoil a good story by telling the truth." But that museum owner had received more publicity than he could have paid in advertising space in his entire life. Up to the Telegraaf. So his purchase was still a top purchase.

The Arnhems Oorlogsmuseum 40-45 is a private museum dedicated to the Second World War, in particular in and around Arnhem.