Barn Find 1951 Crotch Cooler!!!! ;)

[ianmac]

I have a stock '51, I love the twin carb 25 hp motor you have, you can't beat old school race, check Christian Grundmanns '51 in the Mille Miglia http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=464023

[Lee.C]

As it's not a minter nor totally og, cal look the crap out of it. You know it makes sense. 
I am sure it will be better looked after by you compared to the previous owners. Ida's and spg that puppy pronto

Agreed dude, its not one or the other  I know the owner of the car that interior came from want it back ASAP and I am sure I could sell off a few other "vintage parts" to help fund the transformation 

I am gonna call Gary Holzechenct this week about my motor 

P.S matt, those other ida's you sold me a while back are currently being "tested" on a friends 1776 back in the UK 

[Lee.C]

Found a cool old pic from the 90's when the Split had the oval lights fitted   

[mg]

thats a great color for your car....
early 90s mine was blue too...   

[Lee.C]

You had a couple more HOLES than me........... The Sunroof and the decklid vents 

Cool Car 

I think the "newer" colour on my Split is vw "Sea-Blue" from the 60's, I know it was painted in 1977/78 by the Second owner......


The story goes....... The first owner used the split for many years and he always used to visit a local garage for fuel & repairs etc and the garage owner always said "if you ever want to sell that bug - I'll buy it!" but in Norwegian 

And in the mid 70's the garage owner got the call and the Bug was his, He then made a few updates ie: removed the semaphores, added oval rear lights, fitted the red carpets, fitted the oval fender and painted the outside ONLY and drove the car for a few years then put it into storage (in the barn!) and there it stayed until it was "re-discovered" in the late 90's (98-ish) 

I think it stayed in the barn for a few more year until the "Sechs Volt" guys convinced the owner to sell her, It then came into "Kai's" hand and he began refitting all the ORIGINAL parts from the car (the second owner still had them stashed away!!!) things like the Original 51/52 rear lights, Original Ribbed semaphores etc etc

He/Kai also removed the 25hp motor that was fitted to the car but this turned out to be a May 1953 Barndoor engine! and fitted his cool Autotechnik Dual Carb'd engine...... (see previous pic's)

Kai then "Traded" the Split in a deal with Norwegian Hammerworks (for work on his 51 cabrio!) And this is where I step into the picture....... Around this time I moved to Norway and started working with the guys at Hammerworks and one day while we where checking out some of the cars "In Storage" we fired up the 51 and I said "I'd use that as a Daily Driver!" so they said "Go on then!" So I got on the phone and insured it and I drove it home that night 

And now through one deal and another I have ended up with the "Package" which inc:

- The 1951 Splitwindow Bug
- The 25hp Barndoor engine
- A complete running 30hp engine
- An incomplete 30hp engine
- A real right/front split fender (almost rust free!)

So I am the 5th owner of a car that is 61 years old this year - Not bad Huh 

[notched]

Beautiful!!!

[Lee.C]

Quick update:

I spoke with Kai resently and I got a few more details, Apparently its only the carpet set that is from the "Captin" so everything else inside is original to the car - Just check out those seats one more time

So the only NON original parts to the car are:

- The Engine
- The Right/Front Fender (this has been replaced by an original oval item at the time of the re-paint)
- The Carpets
- The Running Board Trim (ie not ribbed but the running boards them selves are original/correct  )

Everything else is all original 1951 VW - Even the little rubber grips on the ends of the crotch cooler handles  

Also apparently when it was in storage it sat along side a Typ166 schwimmwagen and an original kubelwagen - Only in Norway