Volkswagen Split-window

Early Volkswagen models can be timed by the rear window. The split window cars were the first to go on sale from 1948 until well into the 1953 model year. They were a clear improvement over the prototype which had no rear window at all.

 

Volkswagen's first year

Heinrich Nordhoff became head of Volkswagen in 1948 and was given responsibility for building up car production after the war. Volkswagen was then still a small, unknown factory with cars the experts gave little market opportunities. Nordhoff wanted to make the brand a major car brand, and made completely new plans for production and marketing. He wanted to bet on 2 basic models. There were to be products of high quality and good follow-up by the car buyers. In order to achieve the ambitious goals, he also had to invest in exports to other parts of the world – including the USA. The launch was difficult. The first car they took across the Atlantic had to be sold to cover the hotel bill. Interest in the car was frighteningly low. We are talking about the cars with a split rear window - "split window".

 

 

 

 

 

Model follow-up

Several changes were made to the model in the early years, but few of them were visible from the outside. For the first time, the 1948 model got the characteristic nose on the engine hatch where the license plate light sits. In 1951, the model received a Wolfsburg badge on the front trunk lid. In 1952, the engine cover handle became T-shaped instead of L-shaped. In 1953, the front side windows got triangular ventilation windows. From March 1953, the model received a slightly curved full oval rear window.
 

 

 

 

About the pictures

The photos of the black cars – the 1950 model and the 1952 model – were taken at a car show at the Folkemuseet. The green 1953 model was also there. The photo was taken as it was driving out. The beige cars were photographed in two different years at the Oslo Motor Show. The rat-look style car was photographed at the Volksworld exhibition at Sandown racecourse in England, 2017.

 

Hebmüller

 

 

 

Both Hebmüller and Karmann had developed a convertible solution for Volkswagen. With Hebmüller, the car becomes a 2+2 seater with space to hide the canopy when it has been folded down. Karmann made a canopy with four windows that folded down on the outside of the body to provide both access to the back seat and the small rear luggage compartment. Karmann therefore received Volkswagen's blessing. Hebmüller's elegant solution was not produced in particularly high numbers. In accordance Wikipedia they received an order from Volkswagen for 2000 cars, but due to a major fire in the factory they were not able to produce more than 696 cars before they went bankrupt in 1952. Hebmüllers are not only extremely beautiful cars – they are also very rare.

There Wiger Coupé

"Hebmüller", I thought when I saw this coupe variant. Hebmüller built stylish early Volkswagen convertibles with a split rear window. This "Wiger Coupé" was built in one copy at Norwegian Hammerworks in 2009 based on a 1952 Volkswagen and - in my opinion - clearly inspired by the best Hebmüller.

 

About the pictures

The pictures of the black/white car with the top up were taken at the Hobby Vehicle Day in Hof 2022. The picture of a gray car with the top down was taken at an Aircooled meeting in Tossa de Mar, Catalonia in Spain. "Der Wiger Coupé" was exhibited at Oslo Motor Show 2023.

A road trip in 1964

The undersigned well remembers a car trip in a 1953 Volkswagen with a split rear window. It was green like the car in one of the pictures and belonged to a neighbor in my childhood. The year was 1964. The trip went from Vestfold to Fåvang in Gudbrandsdalen. I was 6 years old and sat in the back seat between my mother and the neighbor's wife. My father was sitting in the front passenger seat with my sister on his lap. The neighbor's 12-year-old was curled up in the small space behind the back seat. The luggage was strapped to the roof. The trip was 31 kilometers and would take many hours. All the adults were smoking constantly. Between the smoke I could smell a faint smell of gasoline. On the way up the mountain we had to stop, open the engine cover and put wet moss on the engine to cool it. Before descending, the car had run out of gas. The 1953 model with a split rear window had no gas gauge – but fortunately it had a reserve tank. But unfortunately the reserve tank was empty! With 4 adults and 3 children on board, we rolled down to the valley and straight into a gas station.

 
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