Volkhart V2 Sagitta Concept - 1947 - a photo on Flickriver

Volkhart V2 Sagitta Concept - 1947

            Bonhams
Les Grandes Marques du Monde à Paris
The Grand Palais Éphémère
Place Joffre
Parijs - Paris
Frankrijk - France
February 2023

Estimated : 1.800.000 - 2.600.000
Withdrawn

The most famous performance car based on the Volkswagen Beetle is, of course, the Porsche 356, but before then there was another from an unlikely source: the Luftwaffe. Specifically, the Luftwaffe's 'courier car' was based on the very first Volkswagen: the KdF Wagen Typ 60, which was in production from 1937 to 1944. The Luftwaffe's requirement was for a fast small car that would serve as a courier vehicle, while at the same time being light, reliable, cheap to build and simple to maintain. The car took its name from its German designer, Kurt C Volkhart, while the low-drag body was designed by Baron R König von Fachsenfeld, who would later produce many streamlined designs for mainstream German manufacturers.

Kurt Volkhart, born in 1890, constructed the first rocket car for Opel in 1928 based on an idea by Max Valier. He also drove it until Fritz von Opel recognised the publicity value of driving the car himself. Volkhart left Opel in resentment; he competed in car races, built his own rocket car, and briefly worked on the construction of a rocket-powered aircraft.
Volkhart had long ago recognised that performance could be improved by careful aerodynamic design, and towards the end of the 1930s planned a small, inexpensive sports car: the two-seater V1. The rear-mounted 1,172cc engine was the same as that found in the Ford Eifel and produced only 32bhp, which in the donor car was good enough for a top speed no better than 100km/h (62mph). But thanks to its extraordinarily low claimed drag coefficient of only 0.165, the slippery Volkhart was capable of speeds of up to 138km/h (85.7mph). Modern aerodynamicists later recalculated the V1's likely drag coefficient as 0.30, but when the V2 was tested in Volkswagen's wind tunnel in 2013 it was found to be 0.216, as good as the very best of modern designs.

Development continued but was stopped later in the war, and the project would not resurface until 1947, following an injection of funds from Sagitta. Based on a Volkswagen chassis that Volkhart had purchased during the war (which was confiscated by the British Army before being retrieved by its owner), the new V2 offered accommodation for 4/5 passengers but never came close to series production, not the least because Volkswagen refused to provide chassis. Construction of the aluminium body was entrusted to Helmut Fuchs in Niederwenningern, Ruhr, with additional work by Hans Daum's body shop. One of the V2's many interesting features was a novel 'anti-skid' mechanism mounted at the rear behind the engine as an early form of 'stability control'.
Only one example of the V2 Sagitta was built in 1947; it was purchased by Hugo Tigges, who had sourced the raw materials necessary for its construction. Tigges used the V2 as his 'daily driver' for six years before consigning it in 1953 to his garden where it served as a chicken coop!

In 1955, the V2 was so neglected that Helmut Daum, son of the aforementioned Hans Daum, was allowed to relocate the chickens and recover the car from the garden. Over the succeeding decades, it was rebuilt and repainted several times and then laid up before coming to Austria in 2011, finding a new home with an Austrian Porsche collector. "I always wanted a one-off," said the new owner in 2015. "I immediately drove to classic car events, including Villa d'Este." There, in 2012, the Volkhart V2 was declared a personal favourite by the television team's presenter, who interviewed only the owner to the chagrin of the many Ferrari owners!
When he later refused to sell the V2 to a friend, the latter offered to restore it for him. The aluminium body has been restored and the non-original British Racing Green livery replaced by silver metallic (the original finish), with the result that its sculptural lines are revealed to their full effect. We are advised that the Beetle engine's 24 horses are in good shape and sound even stronger in the lightweight V2.
   

Taken on: February 1, 2023

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Sets appears in: • Les Grandes Marques du Monde à Paris - 2023 • Volkhart

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Camera: Nikon Df, f/5.0, 1/80 sec, 26mm, ISO 800 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon Df
Lens:	24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture:	f/5.0
Exposure Time:	0.013 sec (1/80)
Focal Length:	26mm
ISO:	800
Exposure Bias:	+1/3 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	Low gain up
Saturation:	High
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.6 (Macintosh)
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