Who’s Playing These Games?

A while back I came across an ultra rare KdF board game on eBay ( 1 2 3 4 5 ). Never saw it before. I placed a maximum bid of € 1000 on it. Yes, I know, it’s a lot of money for ‘just’ a board game but when was the last time you played this game?  My guess was that it wouldn’t be enough to become the lucky winner as eBay is full of vintage VW collectors. I waited and waited, 1 minute before the end of the auction. Still the highest bidder. Would it be mine after all? 10 Seconds before the end of the auction… Exciting, isn’t it? Just check the result in this picture. Is it worth that kind of money? Well, that’s up for discussion…

It’s Raining Early Speedo’s!

The last few weeks eBay was a great source for buying Split Bug speedometers from the 1940’s (1 2 3 4).   I bid on all four of them, even though they weren’t  in very good condition but I didn’t won any of them. Luckily I already have a good one for my Split. Oh, and a spare one, too! But hey, I still could use one for filling up my show case… Looking at these speedometers you begin to wonder what happened to the Splits that used to have them installed? Or where they spares too, back then?

KdF All The Way!

Here are some eBay auctions of KdF parts that fetched some nice prices. Low demand of these rare parts often pushes the price sky high, but what if it’s the last part you need to complete your restoration? This usually results in paying the price! The first item is a 1943 VDO speedometer  for a Kübelwagen or some other KdF type car. It definitely needs restoration. I wonder how much that would cost compared to the selling price? The second item is a dash pod that would make a perfect match with the first item. It has the cog wheel logo on the rear side. The last item is a Solex 26 VFI II carburetor for a type 166 Schwimmwagen which is looking very good! It could be NOS. It also has the cog wheel logo. As you can see, there’s some real investing going on in the vintage VW scene!

Real Masterpieces?

A couple of weeks ago I was following an auction on eBay (where else? ). The item to be auctioned was a spare parts list for a Kübelwagen from 1943. It was in perfect condition. Maybe a bit too perfect, so the first thing that went through my mind was, “Is it Real?” Also the seller could not confirm whether it was original or just a cheap reproduction. If it was original it definitely went cheap and the winner is very lucky. Normally the original ones go for hunderds of euro’s. I didn’t bid on it as the chances are high of buying repro stuff on eBay these days.

Also the following piece of KdF literature looks repro to me but I’m not 100% sure. It’s some sort of repair manual for a Kübelwagen from 1940 sold on eBay. Can anyone confirm if these items are original or not?

The Real Deal?

This week I came across this auction on eBay of a type 82e or a type 92 Kübelwagen based KdF Beetle. Is it an original one? It definitely looks like one. It has some specific KdF era details like the ‘ears’ on both sides of the gast tank. Also the small round gas tank is from the KdF era. Looking at the price ( 60.000 euro ) it must be a real one. If it’s a fake the owner did a real good job trying to make it look as real as possible! My guess… It’s original! Just start bidding and maybe it will be yours!

KdF Collectables

I had not much luck in winning these items that were recently auctioned on eBay. The first one is a 20 page KdF brochure ( 1 2 3 ) printed by TRANSART AG, a company in Berlin. The front cover of this brochure has an embossed image of a KdF Wagen in front of the KdF swastika in a cog wheel emblem. I’ve seen this brochure several times on eBay but never had the chance to purchase one.
The second item is a rare user manual for the VW Schwimmwagen type 166 ( 1 2 ). This manual has 48 pages and is dated March 1943. It appears to be in very good condition.
The last item, also in super condition and from the same selller, is a user manual for the VW Kübelwagen type 82 ( 1 2 ). This one is dated September 1940. Almost 70 years old and it still looks like new! Very nice collectables and still high on my literature wish list.

VW Split Bug Bibles

Within one week two Split Bug workshop manuals (German: reparatur leitfaden) were auctioned on eBay ( 1 2 ) . They both fetched exactly the same price. A grand total of € 505,- each. Isn’t that amazing? These are not that rare and have been offered several time on eBay. I bought mine last year for not even one fifth of these selling prices. The manuals are published in the early ’50s and most of the times found written in German. I also have the French version in my collection which is definitely harder to find.

Vintage Volkswagen Scale Model

 I followed this Volkswagen Split Bug 1:18 scale model a couple of weeks ago in the hope to win it. As usual the price went sky high in the last few seconds. According to the eBay ad it is made in Oyonax, France. The ad also mentioned a manufacturer. It supposed to be made by ’Plastiques Gilac’ but I have my doubts. Does anyone have more information about this plastice VW scale model? Collecting vintage VW scale models is something I started a while ago. I do not have that many scale models and I only collect the Split and Oval ones. It’s just a small part of my vintage Volkswagen hobby. My main interest is collecting pre 1957 Volkswagen literature which already is taking up a lot of closet space.

Ferdinand Porsche And His Creation

This nice historical picture recently sold on eBay showing Ferdinand Porsche standing next to a VW38 prototype. The selling price of this picture was 56 euro which is quite acceptable for such a piece of history. I’ve seen KDF pictures go for a lot more. Too bad I’m not the licky winner as my highest bid was 50 euro. Notice the long sunroof. Very nice! What happened to this one? Will it be found too like the one they recently found in Lithuania. Wouldn’t that me great, or what?

Complete Set Of Ten KdF posters

Last week a complete set of ten KdF posters ( 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10) was auctioned on eBay. Talking about a rare opportunity to get them all at once but then you had to spend quite a sum of money. I think it’s the third complete set I’ve seen auctioned on eBay over the past five years. These ten were in perfect condition. I had my eyes on some of them but those last second snipers outbid me. Too bad as I have already five of them and I want to make my collection complete. Hopefully there will be a next time.