A plastic Volkswagen ?

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by Leigh Dorrington : It looks like an early Porsche, but this experimental GRP/fiberglass body was made by Volkswagen engineers, working under very difficult conditions, just three years after civilian production of the VW Type 1 started in 1945. Glass-reinforced plastic was developed during the war as a substitute for materials like marine plywood that were in short supply. It found many applications in post-war years, particularly among low volume car and boat makers. Companies as prestigious as Packard, Daimler and Volvo experimented with fiberglass body construction, and General Motors was one of the first large manufacturers to place a fiberglass-bodied car in production with the Corvette in 1953. This unusual car is, appropriately, part of the collection of the Prototyp Museum in Hamburg. (photo by Leigh Dorrington).

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