Description
In 1949 the car was first registered to a Hamburg gallery owner. In 1953 a Hamburg doctor took over the car, using it extensively and regularly driving long distances as far as, for example, southern Spain. At least one replacement engine and rear axle were installed in this period. The old VW warranty cards for these parts are available. In 1960 the doctor gave the cabriolet to his sister, who lived in Deutsch-Süd-West-Afrika. She kept the car for over 30 years! In a letter she describes her memories of the car. In the beginning she still drove the VW quite a bit, as various maintenance invoices from the 1960s show. In 1974 she again had a replacement engine installed. Later the Hebmüller became too precious to use in daily driving. For that she had a second Beetle from a newer year. In 1990 she finally sold the car with a heavy heart to a German collector who, in the years thereafter, had it fully restored by renowned workshops and under the guidance of VW historians at ca. 210, 000 DM (!) The Hebmüller Cabriolet achieved third place at the Concours d’Elegance at the Nürburgring in 1995, beating far more expensive cars. We sold the car a few years ago. Since then the Hebmüller has been refined in detail. For example, the correct sun visors and the original rear-view mirror (extremely rare!) are now fitted. The vehicle comes with comprehensive documentation including a FIVA and Deuvet Pass, original operating manual and advertising brochure, correspondence of the previous owners and much more. Only 696 examples of the “Hebmüller Cabriolet” were ever produced. It is believed that about 100 examples remain, of which only a handful are well documented.
