Der Wiger Coupe – ’52 Split Coupé

When, in 1991, VolksWorld's own vintage VW expert, Bob Shaill, rolled out the now world famous Stoll coupé, the vintage VW world took notice. What was this car? Was it the real deal, a coachbuilt one-off, or was it a modern recreation of something that no-one had ever seen for real? A couple of grainy black and white photographs existed of the original car but few had ever seen them. As the story unfolded, it became clear that the car was indeed the real deal, being a one-off built between 1952 and 1954 for a wealthy German businessman, Bernard Reipenhausen, by Carrosserie Stoll. He commissioned the coachbuilders to produce a four-seater VW coupé, patterned after a similar coupé that the Hebmüller factory had built one prototype of.
These days, that story sounds far-fetched, the idea of commissioning a one-off coachbuilt car being beyond the realms of most people's comprehension, let alone their wallets, but, up to as late as the 1950s, it was still relatively common practice for the rich, famous and eccentric. However, as motor manufacturers raced forward into ever more efficient mass production techniques and offered ever more exotic cars, demand for the skills of coachbuilders dropped off. In their place came the customisers - people who would, for a fee, perform a similar role by reworking readily available production cars for individual customers - again allowed someone to drive a car that they could be pretty certain no one else on the road would have another one of.

For the full story on this car make sure you pick up a copy of the December 2009 issue of VolksWorld

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