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Hello, Ronald.

The majority of my information comes from Jonathan Wood's small-ish yet fairly detailed work 'The VW Beetle' published in 1983 by Motor Racing Publications Ltd. and much of it was backed-up fully by another volume I had on the origins of the car which, annoyingly, seems to have been misplaced somehow. In the book by Wood, apropos the mystery car, he states;

"The saloon version, titled V1 (for Versuch - German for Experimental) was coachbuilt by Reutter......The second car, coded V2, was a cabriolet built by Drauz......A further three cars, all saloons, were sanctioned and designated VW3 to reflect the number built. Daimler-Benz was responsible for the bodywork, two of the cars being coachbuilt while the third was of all-steel construction."

There is a great deal more information, of course, regarding these type 60 / VW3 cars and what they got up to during their test-phase and their subsequent evolution including photographs showing the change of headlamp position from bonnet-mounted to wing-mounted etc...etc...

For anyone interested in the genesis of the VW Type 1 but has not yet dipped their toe into the waters I would recommend the book quite highly.

As all three VW3 cars were destroyed the mystery car is plainly a reconstruction. From what I've read there are a (small) number of VW3/ VW 30 / Type 60 recreations in existence including one in the Autohaus Museum which, I believe, is the one pictured here. Apparently VW themselves have made one which has been featured at Bad Camberg. Another replica was commissioned by a Belgian VW importer and could be seen (at least it could 15 years ago!) in the D'Ieteren Gallery; a private museum in Brussels.

Unfortunately I have absolutely no idea about the craftsman / company which made the exact car featured here.

Philip.

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I know of three recreations of the Porsche 60/VW Prototyp 3. This red one shown with narrow headlights and two with the headlights in the fenders (the blue one was build for VW and the grey one you mentioned in Belgium).

I asked about the coachbuilder of the recreations because long ago I have learned they were made in UK which propably only counts for the oldest one in Belgium. The red one and I think maybe also the blue one were made in Germany at a small coachbuilder I asked the name for (will write about him tomorrow).

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If the coachbuilder in question is indeed Belgian, it may well be D'Ieteren. I owned several early 911s, and aa couple of them had bodies crafted by the D'Ieteren Group, who also supplied bodies to Opel and other German car makers. 

JZG

Edited by John Z. Goriup
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The coachbuilder of this pre-prototyp is master builder Werner Zinke GmbH in Saxony. They are known for their high quality work on luxary prewar-classics (Horch, MB etc.) and I think they don´t even have a webpage because they have too many restaurations in work. It seems it is the V1 model, which means wood/metal mix. He also made the second series type 30 prototype recreation with the head beams in the fenders which is completely different, full metal construction. All originals were destroyed in 1942 on the order of the Gov.

Maybe it might be of interest that this design was popular not just at Tatra, VW, Zündapp etc. and one year BEFORE the first VW prototype (V1-V3) was build there was a patented "Maier Leichtbau" car made with a DKW engine. This car still exists and is restored now.

Check these pages:

http://www.leichtbau-maier.de/prototyp/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leichtbau_Maier

Seems Maier´s patents and his work were ignored so the KdF-Wagen had no rival.

 

So who´s next? I think the one who is first with posting the next car. OK?

 

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1 hour ago, Rona!d said:

...So who´s next? I think the one who is first with posting the next car. OK?...

I've just started work on what is going to be a fairly time-consuming commission over the next 3 or 4 months and might not have as frequent access to web-time as I might wish so if anyone (John?) would like to step up to the mark then, please, do carry on!

Philip.

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vor 3 Stunden schrieb pippy:

I've just started work on what is going to be a fairly time-consuming commission over the next 3 or 4 months and might not have as frequent access to web-time as I might wish so if anyone (John?) would like to step up to the mark then, please, do carry on!

Philip.

Are you going to restore your Porsche 550 Spyder in your barn in the Cotswolds?

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52 minutes ago, Rona!d said:

Are you going to restore your Porsche 550 Spyder in your barn in the Cotswolds?

:lol:

Yup; all I need now is a brand-new tube of Revell's polystyrene cement and some tins of Silver Humbrol Paint and I'm good to go!

Philip.

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Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen!

As no-one has stepped into the breech I'll post something......and I'll admit from the outset that it might involve a considerable number of hints and snaps!

To begin with I'll let everyone know that the company responsible is UK-based and has both developed and produced a number of lightweight sports cars, primarily for participation in the 750cc Motor Club Kit-Car Championship, since the start of the 1980's.

Bonnet-profile is rather representative, however, so I'll start here;

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

The best of luck Good Fortune everyone!

Philip.

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Hello Wilson! No; not a Taydec.

I must admit that the Taydec name is new to me and I had to check up on the company simply in order to answer your question accurately. NIce-looking cars!

Here is another view from the front;

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Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Philip.

 

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Another snap and a bit more info.

The company (AFAIK) has produced 12 models and quite often the rights to fabricating these models have been sold-on which raises monies so as to enable this manufacturer to develop newer fare. There seems to be a bit of confusion on the www but what info there is would appear to give a production-number of this model of around 130 examples.

Companies which have purchased these manufacturing rights include Stuart Taylor Motorsport and Fisher Sportscars to name just two.

Of the 12 models mentioned above this - as a full race-version only - was the fourth type and the first to feature bodywork where the front wheels were fully-enclosed - earlier versions being based on designs more akin to the ubiquitous Lotus Seven (although the very first was rather razor-edged in a very ungainly 1980s style!).

Rear view;

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Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Philip.

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Hello Wilson and Stuart. Sorry but it's neither a Mallock nor a Midas.

The company, based in Lincolnshire, has had a fair amount of success with their 'Fury' model which, although it bears some small passing resemblance to the open version of the Ginetta G4 of 1961, didn't appear until three or four years after the mystery car and a full 30 years after the debut of the Ginetta!

One more snap; here's the front 3/4;

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Philip.

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4 hours ago, Rona!d said:

Reminds me of a Sylva, maybe Phoenix (Jeremy Phillips). I recall one with a Kawasaki ZZR engine (Stuart Taylor racing) but I guess the engine was a customer’s decision.

Absolutely spot-on, Ronald! Well Done! It is indeed a Sylva Phoenix. This one was snapped during the 2016 Crystal Palace Sprint meeting and won its class. If anyone is interested the owner / pilote, Jeff Wiltshire, has posted his run on-line;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhAUEAUV2KM

Snaps of whole thing to wrap it up;

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

I was beginning to think that it might be just that little bit too obscure but am delighted to see my confidence in you lot was justified. I wonder, though, whether any of you might be familiar with something I saw pootering around Belgravia about an hour ago? Not that I'm setting this as a 'Part 2' to the Mystery Car but I just thought that some of you might enjoy having a look......and maybe have a guess as to what it is if the fancy takes you! Apologies for the poor quality but it was a bit of an unexpected rush 'grab-shot' situation!...

Over to you, Ronald, and thanks to everyone for playing!

Philip.

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Phillipp that little thing looks absolutely stunning  (without the rollbar). Nice color too. Because of the slim chrome trim around the headbeams it looks like a small Alfa Tipo 33 racer (neighbour has/had one -replica with Ferrari engine- stunning and a real thrill on public roads).

Thanks for posting. If I would live in the UK I even might try to (test)drive one.

The other car I think I have seen somewhere. The wheels are „too much“ retro and bad sized for my taste 😉

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