28th June 2017

Held every four years, Hessisch is heaven for vintage VW lovers.

Click for the full photo gallery

About an hour from Hannover, Germany, the small town of Hessisch Oldendorf hosts an amazing gathering of vintage aircooled Volkswagens every four years. From the very early KDF-Wagen prototypes to super rare coachbuilt cabriolets, taking in all manner of oddities and autojumble delights along the way, there's a lot to see over the course of the event.

Highlight for me was getting a full appreciation of the differences over the early years of the humble VW. The early KDF-Wagens look superficially the same as an early 1950s split-window oval but there's a lot of changes.

I've never seen so many coachbuilt VWs. The Hebmüller cabriolets with their sleek rear lines are a lot more elegant than the regular production cabrios, the wheel arches of the Rometsch Beeskow remind me of the Mercedes Benz 300SL and the modified Dannenhauer & Stauss looked sensational. Lots of wartime vehicles around too with Kübelwagens, Schwimmwagens and a few Kommandeurwagens enjoying their attention.

It's a shame that there's four years to wait until the next one, but in the meantime enjoy the photo gallery!

(And yes, no updates to the site for ages, I know, sorry about that!)