1959 Rometsch - A coachbuilt Volkswagen
- Monday, 29 September 2008
- 0 Comments
Picture the scene: It's 1958 and your business in Berlin is doing rather well - you're feeling a bit flush and decide it's time to treat yourself to a new car befitting your status. You look around at what's on offer in the local car dealerships and decide that you fancy something open topped and European. Maybe your budget doesn't quite stretch to a Mercedes Benz SL or the Ferrari 250 GT that catches your eye and, besides, you're a frugal soul at heart and that big six-carbed motor looks a bit thirsty for your liking. You give a second glance to the new 507 in the local Kuntz BMW dealership, but again that dual-carbed V8 motor doesn't suit your pocket and, like the Ferrari, it comes with a hefty price tag. Your next stop is Helmut's VW showroom. Maybe they've brought out a new model for '58...
But hang on, what's that parked up in front of the showroom? It sure doesn't look like any Volkswagen you've seen before and no one you know has got anything like it, so you call in to investigate further. The VW salesman plays it down, "Nah, zat iz not a proper Volkswagen, it iz a coachbuilt body on a VW floorpan, zey are not made by Herr Volkswagen and zerefore are not az good. Vot you vant is one of zese, ze new 1958 Käfer, see it iz completely new, it has a back window you can see out of and everything!" Yes, but it still looks like a Beetle, you think, whereas that car out there doesn't look like a Beetle, it looks like a million 'marks. You ignore the officious salesman's gestures towards the open door of the 'new' Käfer and point out the car outside, asking him where you get one of those. "I cannot help you zere," he replies, and flounces off.
Eventually, you work out that the dapper gentleman in the sharp suit signing a cheque for a new Cabriolet Beetle 'for ze wife' is the owner of the car out front and he's more than happy to show it off to you. "Not just anyone can have one of these," he says proudly. "It's a Rometsch Sport Kabriolett. I commissioned it myself, in blue and grey to match my shoes. Pretty cool huh?" He points out how American the styling is, with its dramatic Buick-esque side trim, sculpted tail and wrap-around windscreen.
“This is the new version, too. It has a hand-made aluminium body that was designed by Bert Lawrence – a brilliant designer who was working in West Berlin at the time, not one of those bores from East Berlin. It also has a powerful 50 horsepower engine from Okrasa, with double carburettors, special twin-port cylinder heads, a better crankshaft and a sporty cam. And did you notice the four exhausts – they make it go much faster!” he exclaims.” And it costs twice as much as a new Beetle!”
He goes on to explain how Rometsch is a very famous coachbuilders in Berlin and that they have made cars for the King of Sweden and many famous film stars. In fact, their cars are so snazzy that Volkswagen won’t acknowledge them at all, and tried to stop them selling them, so you have to buy direct from Rometsch, and there’s a long waiting list. And with that, the dapper Dieter fires up his engine and is gone.
If he was right about one thing, it was the waiting list and it took our man until the following year to take delivery of the car you see here – a ‘59 model – and, like the one that had so excited him the year before, he specified his own two-tone colour scheme. Naturally, like all who stepped up to this extravagant variant on the VW platform, he ticked the box for the full Okrasa engine conversion, knowing it would never do to be beaten off the lights by a humble Beetle.
For the full story check out the October 2008 issue of VolksWorld magazine. On sale on 05 September and then available through back issues.
SUBSCRIBE
Never miss an issue again by setting up a subscription to VolksWorld magazine!
VW Wallpaper
You can download a wallpaper from this feature for your computers desktop in our VW Wallpaper section.
