Date: Wed, 08 Nov 95 19:18 CST
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: EF0JPB1@mvs.cso.niu.edu
Subject: Hearses. Not Ghost Busters.
Nobody asked for it, but the silence was deafening. As I
sat here entering Old Bus Registry forms, picking up a post
here and a post there from vanagon@lenti, it looked like a
good time to track down the hearse article. In the May/June
1994 Old Bus Review from NEATO is the following:
Type 2 Variations: Hearses Manufactured by the Frickinger
Firm of Augsburg.
By Rainer Dungen (translated by Burt Reif)
The stars must be lined up correctly. I *knew* that name.
Not a minute earlier, I had entered all the information on
the 1965 green and white bus belonging to Burt Reif. That
was enough for me.
The post from clara earlier, about the calendar picture of a
hearse, was correct. There are hearses based on the double
cab. There is also a hearse based on the single cab. In
both cases, one long single piece of glass window is in
place from the cab back to the rear quarter. The top of the
glass is at the normal height, right below the drip channel.
However, the bottom of the glass looks to be an inch or so
below the belt line.
Stock pickups were ordered with M311 (in primer) and M181
(without side and rear gates) and then modified at the
Frickinger shop. Evidently the work was high quality
because after inspection of the finished work, a commision
from the VW factory blessed it as worthy enough to be listed
in factory sales manuals--either directly through a VW
dealer or going directly to the Frickinger people for
special versions.
The rear of the hearse had two, vertically hinged, doors
which latched in the center. All at deck height, of course.
The 1962-1967 production run turned out between 220 and 250
finished products. Most stayed in Germany. Only ten were
exported.
One odd specification was Number Of Resting Places: 2
(coffins).
Sheesh, even the Westfalias do better than that. Now, back
to your normally scheduled blah. The funeral is over.
-Jim Bryant.
