So... would this be a coachbuilt barndoor delux... and if so by whom? Does it pre-date the factory delux microbus? I would guess yes... because there is no way an after market coachbuilder could make it for the same money...

I would sure love to know more about it. I found the photos at a shop in Berlin about 20 years ago.

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yes.. I have posted these photos before.. but I still don't have any info on the bus!

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I once saw an advert in an old German magazine for a coachbuilding firm, with a picture of something very similar. I would have bought the mag just for the picture, but I was totally broke at the time and the guy wanted 15 pounds or something daft. The picture showed a very similar bus with the longer side windows, like a bay bus, and longer roof windows to match the length of the side windows.It could very well be the same design of Bus. Memory is a little foggy, it was years ago now.

Sorry, but I can´t remember the name of the coachbuilder. It may have been in Berlin though. Maybe.

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The writings around are in german but the licence plate is not a german one.
Such busses where modified that way several times in swizerland for use by hotels to
transport tourists. This was even done on later ones when the samba version was allready
available from VW. So this is maybe a swiss car.

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the rack on the back of this bus is for skis.... and the first photo appears to be in the Alps... perhaps near the tracks of the Glacier Express train??? The hotel name on the bus is the Hotel Mittleberger??? I can't read it but I think that is what it says. here is photo of Mittelberg... in the alps.

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nice!!!

looks a little bit like a Beulter or Auwarter, at least due to the panoramic roof, but not raised. Will be hard to find who built it...

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Eric,
I have send a mail to a contact :beer: in Austria...I hope I can find out when and where it was used.
The car was registrated in Vorarlberg due to the V in the licenceplate

On the side is written "DER MITTELBERGER". There was a postal service line in that area the got this name but they used FIAT cars and later STEYR BUSSES. Nothing known about the VW bus.
I could also not find a hotel, pension or restaurant with that name ....

The signwriting on the front door is not clear enough to read, even with a special program wich I use to filter colors and shades:shock: .
I hope there are locals there that remember that bus but that is like gambling...
Greets. Peter

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Hello from Germany,

I forwarded the picture to some people at Mittelberg (Kleinwalsertal, Austria), since the location fits to the "V" Vorarlberg-number-plate (as others stated before).

Today I got the answer from the Mittelberg-chronist, Mr. Heim. He cannot associate the buildings and the mountains to Mittelberg and ist very, very sure that it is another town.

He had another suggestion, and I will give it a try the next days. Some things are easier done from over here...

I could not read the writings on the bus myself, but took a look at the buildings and writing in the back:

You can see 2 names of stores:

"Rud. Maag" (Rud. = Rudolf) which is/was a chemical factory in Switzerland (Dr. Rudolf Maag AG) with main focus on agriculture, sitting in Dielsdorf.

The other one is "Schlapfer" or "Schläpfer". Using Google you again find many hits in Switzerland, mostly "Schläpfer".

And then you can read the words "Ausnahmeverkauf", which is not a common German term ("Ausnahme" means "exception" and "Verkauf" means "sale", but I never heard "Ausnahmeverkauf" in combination before). But it is used in Switzerland for "clearance sale" (in Germany we would call it "Räumungsverkauf" or "Ausverkauf").


So from my point of view the pictures are very likely taken in Switzerland, not in Austria (but the bus is definitely licensed in Vorarlberg, Austria). But remember that in the alps the borders were the mountains, not "lines on pieces of paper". Mittelberg for example is an Austrian town, but the only roads to get there are from Germany (not from Austria).

Maybe it could help to find out which Hotel it is in front. "Hotel Garni" is not the name, "Garni" means that it is a hotel where you can only get breakfast (no lunch, no dinner).

So much for today, I will keep investigating...

Regards

Jörg Fischer

Jorg,

thanks so much for your comments! I did not expect such great research. It would be fun to find the builder of this bus. There is no reason I am looking... I am just curious and would love to see more photos. Mostly I am trying to figure out if these busses pre-dated the VW factory Samba.

Eric

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