- By Herschel D. -
MAY’S – ANSWERS
1. Q: In a recent question, I explained that the barn door buses had the spare tire on a shelf above the engine. But in the very beginning, like 1950, it was placed differently from that. How?
A: It sat up vertically next to the engine in the engine bay on the right side.
2. Q: From, when to when, did the early VW Beetle use the brake light housing, commonly called the “pope’s nose” light?
A:
From early 1946-October 1952. There was a similar one used on the 1938-’39
prototypes, but war supply shortages caused the brake light to become a
truck-like generic unit until 1946!
3. Q: For what model year, did the Beetle windshield wipers switch to parking on the left?
A: In 1965, when the windshield was enlarged.
4. Q: In what year was the first Beetle owner’s manual published?
A: 1939, I bet you thought 1946, Well, the ‘early post WWII manuals did look like carry-overs of the 1939 one.
5. Q: What VW model is commonly called the Razor Edge VW?
A: The Type 3 Karmann Ghia.
6. Q: What is a ”trafficator?”
A: That is the English language term VW used in early literature to refer to the flipper turn signals that we call “semaphores.” In German they were ”winkers!”
JULY’S - New Questions
1. I have a reprint of the 1948 VW owners’ manual. The artwork used in it to illustrate parts of the car is largely based upon the original 1939 manual, mentioned above. It has both German and English instruction in it. The left-hand page is the English version and the right-hand page is an exact duplicate with the same illustrations, except that it has German wording. So, if the right hand page (page 7) has the word “KONSTRUKTIONSMERKMALE” on it, what is the English translation on the left-hand page?
2. The engine of the pre-’56 VW is commonly referred as a 25 horse, but that is the European “D.I.N.” rating, and the American “S.A. E.” rating, for it is 30 horses. Where is the horsepower measured in the two rating systems?
3. This is an easy one. What is the translation of “Kubelwagen?"
4. When did the Beetle Engine lid latch go from having a lock as standard equipment to the lock being only an option?
5. In what model year was the Type 3 first imported into the U.S.?
6. The last year of the Karmann Ghia was 1974. What other VW replaced it on the assembly line and why did they end that model then?
Answers next month, along with new questions.