Whilst on the Portuguese Vintage VW run this past weekend, (images to follow in approppriate forum) I got talking with a Dutch chap and his wife, Edward and Winnie who now live here. They had brought along a very nice KG convertible in Ivory white, and of course as they spoke English we hit it off, and found out we shared some things in common.
However more interestingly for Pre67vw, it turns out that he was the owner of one of three Hebmullers in Holland, which he sold +/- 15 years ago to a chap in Belgium for around 15,000 euros. He has owned and restored a large number of vintage VWs including a 1951 Police Cabriolet, and numerous splits etc. He said he used to win many awards in the late 70s, early to mid 80s in the UK, Stoneleigh etc. Some of you may know who he is. He has a huge number of photographs which I will have to go through with him. One of the most interesting stories was that he and his wife bought 300 NOS grooved bumpers for splits still in OG volkswagen wrapping (100 front, 200 rear) for the then cost of 10 euros a piece: these he then sold on at shows such as Bad Camberg back in the day. Winnie became known as the bumper woman (Sorry, he did give me the German expression but I can't recall it). Back in the 80s, his job involved driving through Holland, and on these journeys he'd visit all the VW dealerships and buy out all their vintage NOS parts - although mostly all gone now he did say he had a couple of NOS 28 pict (?) carbs left as part of his collection, and he was just about to start restoring a 1945 VW engine...
An amazing chap to talk to with a wealth of knowledge, and stated he used to be a concours judge at many of the shows. Can't wait to get his impression of my ragged 54 oval...
Semaphores sourced, thanks Rich... looking for Westy SO23 interior parts.