Volkswagen Type 14A (Hebmüller Cabriolet)

1889 Hebmüller & Sohn a coachbuilding firm is established in the town of Wuppertal, Germany. After World War II Hebmüller & Sohn like most German companies of the time lacked business. During this time Major Ivan Hirst of the British Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) was running Volkswagen.

After talks with Colonel Michael McEvoy about a sport car based Beetle, Ivan asked Ringel's experimental team to build the Colonel in charge of Volkswagen, Charles Radcliffye, a 2-seat Cabriolet.

The Radclyffe Cabriolet as it is known in VW circles obviously influenced Joseph Hebmüller II on his frequent trips to the Wolfsburg plant. The Type 14A took many elements of the Radclyffe Cabriolet his company would later build.

At the request of Volkswagen Managing Director Heinz Nordhoff, Hebmüller and Karmann would build Cabriolets for Volkswagen, with as many Beetle parts as possible eg chassis, panels & engines etc. Hebmüller was to build the 2 + 2 seat Cabriolet and Karmann the 4 seat Cabriolet based on the Beetle (Type 1).

In April 1949 the Type 14A passed a Convert|10000|km|mi|0 rough road test by Volkswagen engineers, pleased with the results Heinz Nordhoff ordered 2000 productions versions to be sold by Volkswagen through its agents.

Hebmüller started production in June 1949, mechanically the Type 14A was the same as the Beetle sedan with mechanical brakes and the Beetles Convert|25|hp|kW|0|abbr=on engine.

Retailing for 7500 Deustch Marks, the Hebmüller Cabriolet was available in a variety of colours, options wereblack, red & white in single tone, in two tone combinations black & red, black & ivory, black & yellow and red & ivory was available, for extra charge buyers could choose their own combination.

The Type 14A was sold and serviced through Volkswagen agencies on the Geman market, and through private importers in foreign markets.

Tragedy was to strike the Wuppertal factory, a fire broke out on the 23rd of July 1949 in the paint department and made its way to the production line. After the fire, Hebmüller did manage to produce later but later became financially ruined in the early 1950s. Production of Type 14A was moved to the Karmann factory in Osnabrück, Germany in 1952.

Production ended in 1953 with a total of 696 units produced including 3 prototypes and 1 pre-production models, today around 100 are thought to be in existence.

External links

* [http://www.hebmuller.com/ Enthusiast Site]
* [http://www.thehebregistry.com/ Hebmüller Registry]
* [http://web.telia.com/~u31614134/ehebstrt.htm Hebmüller History]