We saw him coming. Painted loosely with a broom, quite lived through, but rock hard. Roy Bolks' Volkswagen Fridolin. Such a Fridolin has Karmann Ghia genes. But you don't see that in it.
The Volkswagen Fridolin (officially Type 147 Kleinlieferwagen) is a van that Volkswagen built for the Deutsche Bundespost between 1964 and 1973. According to the stories, the nickname 'Fridolin' originated from the builders of Westfalia and refers to a rail vehicle. A kind of train / tram that the car looks like. Google Google for Fridolin, Eisenbahn. In terms of nose, the thing most resembles an early VW van. The Freunde der historic Hafenbahn have such a Fridolin driving in Hamburg. It's just a fact.
Fridolin: Because others didn't like it
The idea for the Volkswagen Fridolin came from the Deutsche Bundespost. The vehicle was ordered by the Bundespost in February 1962 and was intended for emptying letterboxes in inner cities. Until then, there was no flashy solution for this, and tests with the Goggomobil Transporter, among others, had come to nothing. Het Boek Van Eisen stated, among other things, that the new vehicle must have a loading space of two cubic meters and that it must be able to travel 400 kilos of mail. The cargo area also had to be accessible directly from the driver's cabin. Furthermore, the vehicle had to be fitted with sliding doors, because normal doors in the city center were of course too difficult to open. It was all well thought out.
The development assignment
Volkswagen made a design under the name EA 149 (EA stands for Entwicklungsauftrag ('development order'), and then received the green light for it. To save on costs, the vehicle was made by Volkswagen according to the construction kit principle. axles, the 34 hp boxer engine and the transmission from the Volkswagen Beetle The chassis was a reinforced version of the chassis of the Karmann Ghia Typ 14. The headlights came from the Volkswagen Beetle. The tailgate and many other parts were adapted or not. the Volkswagen Transporter.
Made by Westfalia
De Volkswagen Fridolin was built in the Westfalia factory in Wiedenbrück. In 1963, some prototypes were first made. Serial production started in 1964. When production was stopped in July 1974, 6000 Fridolins had been built. Part of this has been supplied to other institutions. For example, Die Schweizerische Post bought 1200 in a slightly modified version that was equipped with a 44 hp engine. Lufthansa also bought a number of copies.
Not for eternity
De Volkswagen Fridolin was made as a tool, as a commodity. Like many contemporaries, the dozige VWs were not protected against rust. About 40 Fridolins are still in use in Germany. Worldwide, about 200 copies remain. And the most beautiful of these is now in Terborg. Another example is a commercial vehicle for an Arnhem restaurant and is now probably delivering orders. Just pay attention in Arnhem.
And you can see in the last photo that VW has made more exotics. The thing that looks like the previous car from Peppie and Kokkie is a VW wagon from WWII. That thing was a barn find and ready for the scrap metal baler. Fortunately someone passed by who once checked the numbers. The thing has sold for $ 25.000 and will be in an American museum. What good is scrap in the shed?
Also interesting to read:
The beetle had these headlights only after 67 type 3 had them in 61
I do see a DAF Kalmar driving around in Arnhem that belongs to a restaurant. But a Fridolin - I've never seen one.
A swiped English design ??
The Kalmar came later
Of course they could (better) take a Renault Estafette. They would have finished in one time.