Ratmüller


You’re looking for a new project. You’ve amassed animpressive collection of vintage VWs. What do you go for next?





Andreas Hendl, a 32-year-old engineer working for the TüV, has been interested in VWs since he was in school. His first car was a 1956 Oval Window Beetle with a 2.4-litre 200bhp Type 4 engine that eats up the miles at a phenomenal pace. The second was a 1957 Oval Ragtop Beetle complete with a 1974 Porsche crank and twin Solex carbs bringing the bhp to 69. Not content with having two Ovals, Andreas bought a third but this time he left it in its patina'd guise. Unlike the other two, he sold it on and the search began for a new project.


When his friend rang to say he'd just bought a Hebmüller and wanted Andreas to help him sell it, he knew he'd found his next project.


What Andreas had bought was a solid, albeit slightly modified Hebmüller that the previous owners had added their own touches to over the years. This is Hebmüller number 455 and was manufactured in January 1950 before being exported to Switzerland, where it stayed


until Andreas took up ownership 59 years later. On inspection, the body and chassis are matching but unfortunately the original engine and gearbox have vanished over the years. Very little is known about the history of the car as the previous owner is ill in hospital, but what we do know is it has been cared for over the years as most of the metal is original, which has


saved Andreas time-consuming repairs and money.


The first thing needed was to remove the body from the chassis to assess any rust. With the body safely on one side of the workshop, Andreas could get to work on the chassis, which wasn't too bad at all. In fact, for a 59-year-old car it was great, needing only the battery tray to be replaced. The right-hand side cabrio reinforcement had weakened, so a reproduction was grafted in, which according to Andreas is 100% faithful to the original.


Andreas ground all the surface rust back before applying protective paint to the chassis. The last job was to change the fuel line, which Andreas managed to do without having to cut the tunnel. He now had one structurally sound chassis ready for wheels and tyres.


The focus then turned to the body. Like the chassis, this was no rusted-out death trap but at some point in the 1960s the Heb had been tinkered with. The bonnet was changed in favour of a 1962 item, the semaphores were covered over with filler and the rear apron was replaced with a later one. The final 'upgrade' was, as Andreas describes it, "the ugly big rear window,".


Also, at the time of said 'upgrade' came the side painting in Ivory, which really suits the Hebmüller.


To get the body looking respectable and solid, a new heater channel had to be welded in on the right side as this had rotted through. Rear bumper mounts and a replacement H rear valance were also grafted in. The wings are the original and have survived very well!


If you look closely you can see where Andreas has repainted the car after carrying out work like re-opening the semaphores. Thankfully, they were only filled in and still work, but Andreas' father has added a flashing mechanism in the hope that drivers of modern cars will see them. There were no bumpers with the car, but luckily Andreas managed to track down a front one from the friend who had found and bought the Hebmüller initially. The rear bumper was an eBay bargain at 50 Euros, and though there was no picture, when Andreas phoned the seller she told him it was from her grandfather's 1950 Beetle, so Andreas bought it there and then, and it even came with four over-riders!


As the previous owner is in hospital, Andreas has not been able to get a number of items that were removed from the car, such as part of the rear seat, glovebox doors and the original Hebmüller external badge.


With only 8 days to spare before the Hessisch Oldendorf show, Andreas  got the TüV certificate of roadworthiness.


To his surprise, when he got to the show, 


he received a glowing welcome and even the die-hard 'stock' brigade said Andreas should leave it as is and not paint it, although they would like to see it at standard height.





 

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