Sander Marinus and Femme de Vries call their company Funky VW. Young people who are bursting with energy and are constantly on the road at home and abroad to save old Volkswagens from destruction. They have been able to tell the story of the young company extensively in the local newspapers and Omrop Fryslân.
By: Dirk de Jong
Sander: "For us it is a wonderful job that we prefer to do every day." Femme: "Because of our great love for the classic car trade, we meet special people with special stories, the research has become something magical for us."
Last resting place?
We first go into the 'rear-view mirror' of Volkswagen. The text of the then VW folder reads: “There was an opportunity to bring a larger Volkswagen that costs more, but also offers more space, that has more comfort and more speed and is built according to the same VW principles. A larger Volkswagen and so this Volkswagen was born. Just as much a Volkswagen as other Volkswagens, that's the truth in three models, the sedan, the variant and the fastback. ”
Riding heritage
That the rust was already permanently gnawing at the fastback is clearly visible in the photos. Nature almost took possession of its raw materials again until the car was found by a VW enthusiast with the aim of giving the car a second life. This VW enthusiast could tell about the car that after production it went to the United States where it got its first owner. Many years later he came back to Romania where he drove around for a long time, the owner thought it was a special beautiful version, a green with white interior and pop out windows at the back. Unfortunately, the rust started to hit and the car was stopped in the shed. The VW fan took him to the Netherlands where he lacked the time to stop the decay through restoration.
Networking
Thanks to the networks of Funky VW, he eventually ended up in the garage of the Westereen where he now waits for what is to come. The flow of VW enthusiasts has already started and so the confidence that this exciting find will find its way again in the future.
I had a Ponton (the sedan version of this fastback) I bought the 54-05-ED from the 1st owner in the 80s for 500 guilders (uuh something like 230 euros). The nice thing is that it is still running. Also heavily restored, unfortunately no longer ours (ps I was driving a beetle at the time and my mourning in the Ponton to work0 even then these were already classics by the way!
My dad had one too. I mean with the license plate ..-..- EH, a green one. To add to this story, I think it has been so long ago that wearing seat belts was not mandatory and that wearing "smack hats" on mopeds was not yet mandatory.
Indeed no seat belts, my father had one too. On a beautiful but cold morning we skidded and hit a tree and I hit the windshield. So never forget to put on my seat belt now.
Was the proud owner of a VW Variant 1600, color white.
Nice car where you could lose a lot. And what he drove nice, nice memories.
And that 1600cc engine was really strong. Nice gas and touring.
I have had an identical diamond blue VW 2TL twice for years. My 1600-year-old bought my father new and passed it on to me in 68, so I've had it myself for 1977 years. Both were valued just above € 44 for the first time in the past year. The club for owners of this car is the Air-cooled VW club Netherlands (LVWCN). On August 10.000, 21 there will be a special Type 2022 meeting in Ruinerwold. Info: editorial@fehac.nl
Nice coffee grinders !!
Here I am again and it strikes me how many memories I have of my brother's cars. My oldest brother has been driving a slightly younger 1600 VW for a while. When I was about fourteen years old I also sat at the wheel on the garden path and I remember that he could accelerate so well Beetle-like. That Boxer engine, hey. You don't have that pleasure these days anymore, do you? He had a second trunk in the back, above the engine. I then placed my brother's toolbox in there, who was no longer able to do that himself due to a serious accident. It just fit. There was a fairly large rust spot on the door.
180 degrees of course
They were dangerous cars. We had a few at the shop and I remember that when I rounded Plein 1813 in The Hague, the wheels hit the wet tram rails and I immediately turned almost 180 degrees. Fortunately it was not as busy at the time as it is now so I managed to get out of the slip. I really wasn't driving fast at the time but after that I was even more aware than before of the steering characteristics of this car. But they were certainly beautiful cars to see, especially the orange ones that came on the market in the early 70s (with larger turn signals and rear lights).
VW type 3: 2,5 million units produced, of which barely 2 are now for sale on accelerator (a station and a pontoon)
USA beetle: 20 million copies produced, of which barely 539 are now for sale on accelerator.
Ford Angla (same period): 1,5 million units produced, of which barely 5 are now for sale on accelerator
Volvo Amazon (same period): 600.000 units produced, 150 of which are now for sale on accelerator.
High production numbers seem to guarantee later rarity?
2,5 million copies produced, of which only 2 are for sale on accelerator (1x pontoon and 1x station)
Ford Angla: same period: 1.5 million units produced, of which 5 on accelerator
Volvo Amazon: same period, 600.000 copies produced, 150 of which are for sale on accelerator.
High production numbers seem like a guarantee of future rarity?
A real East European, solid car. (Model and technology: solid, no-nonsense, simple, comparable to Lada and Skoda, among others).
I must confess: I think this model is 100 times more beautiful and original than all VW models of today.
You have to explain an East European car
This model has always been my dream car - just beautiful.
I had the same years ago now I regret not having it anymore, super car it was always outside summer and winter and always started
At the time, nobody had heard of the term "fastback" so I will only call it 1600TL, which stands for "Touring-Limousine". Or the Stammtisch: “Träurige Löschung”.
This car looks sad indeed, but who knows, it will be a beautiful classic that will offer another half a century of fun. It's a pretty nice model, I've always liked the dashboard.
The Karmann-Ghia Typ 32, Donnerwetter, based on this Typ 34, is really beautiful. But they are almost gone. And those that are still there cost a fortune.
“Träurige Löschung”: perhaps in a German regional dialect. Do you sometimes mean "Traurige Lösung"?
I repaired the same car a few years ago after +30 years of inactivity, but it was in incomparably better condition than this one (Not a single body panel needed to be replaced!) And even then it was a loss-making action. It was sold after more than six months of advertising.
I cannot believe that anyone can restore an ordinary VW from this starting state with the hourly rates applicable “here”. That is priceless ?!
Even as a hobby it seems like a daunting task? Love makes blind? I hope that I will not be dismissed as a negative person, but I think that a lot of projects are started full of enthusiasm… that eventually end up in a corner.
In any case, I'm never going to do it again;)!
I have another Kadett B that I am going to restore.
I never get the hours out, but the car has been in my possession for 30 years now.
And so I don't throw the thing away, it belonged to my father.
If you want to sell, you should not start such projects.
A restoration is never priceless… As long as you don't pay more for a restoration than for a new middle class car, I would say: do… Little math: new middle class car is € 30; divide this by 000 € hourly wages for restoration and you arrive at 50 hours or 600 weeks full-time restoration… Most of my restoration projects have taken about 15 hours so far and that will work with this VW. So restore!
80 hours? So two weeks to 8 hours a day?