VOLKSWAGEN / GERMANY

 

VOLKSWAGEN / WOLFSBURG / GERMANY ( 1937 - to present )

Actually, my website is almost entirely about pre-war emblems (exceptions prove the rule). And people usually assume that there are no pre-war VOLKSWAGEN emblems.

So  I would say that my post on the Volkswagen emblems provided some new, previously unknown information  as I show here,  a prewar Volkswagen emblem!

Unbelievable but true. I was given this heavily damaged Volkswagen emblem -shown on the next photo- as a gift because the owner thought it was beyond restoration. But it wasn’t. It dates from around 1938 - 1940 and came from one of the few civilian Volkswagens before WWII ( less than 100 ). The design was patented in 1938. The distinguishing mark of vehicles built until the end of WWII is the ring with teeth. 

 

with traces of WWII, an original prewar VOLKSWAGEN emblem 

 

 

Sorting out that puzzle it turned out that the emblem has a tab at the top and another at the bottom. This makes it clear that it was used inside the vehicle, almost certainly on the dashboard.

prewar Volkswagen emblem after restoration

Size	8.2 cm x 10.7 cm
Year	c. 1938 / 1940
Estimate

 

 

The KdF emblem was patented as early as 1938. It features the three letters KdF, standing for “Kraft durch Freude” (Strength Through Joy), within a gear. It is noteworthy that Berlin, rather than Wolfsburg, is listed as the company's headquarters. 

As early as September 1938, however, the name was no longer “Kraft durch Freude”; instead, it was renamed Volkswagenwerk GmbH.

In 1938, the German Reich offered its citizens a savings card that would have allowed them to purchase a Volkswagen once they had saved 990 Reichsmarks. Many thousands of citizens accepted the offer. However, not a single vehicle was ever sold to civilians, since starting in 1939, only military-grade Volkswagens—such as the Kübelwagen and Schwimmwagen—were manufactured.
Here I present an original savings card belonging to the late Mr. Fischer , which he never threw away, even though none of his deposits were ever reimbursed.

Original "KdF-WAGEN-SPARKARTE" that survived WWII; This receipt proves that  full payment has been made. However, a vehicle was never delivered (that’s one way to cheat your own people and put all the money into the military).

It wasn't until 1945 that the first civilian Beetle went back into production. 

For the sake of completeness, I'm showing these postwar emblems here. Starting in 1950, the Export version of the Beetle featured a hood ornament made of colored enamel depicting a wolf on a castle = Wolfsburg. Of course, the export version was also available for purchase in Germany; it was a slightly more luxurious version of the Beetle.

Size	3.8 cm x 5.4 cm (emblem only)
Year	1951 - 1959
Estimate

 

Due to the extremely high production volumes, Volkswagen sourced parts from various enamel coating plants; in this case, from KSP.

 

The  hood emblem was  simplified in 1960 with a tendency toward the abstract. An evolution that can be observed in many emblems of long-standing automobile manufacturers.

 

Size	3.8 cm x 5.4  cm (emblem only)
Year	1959 - 1962
Estimate

And then there was another prototype emblem, which, in terms of abstraction, falls between the two emblems shown earlier.

 

Size	3.8 cm x 5.4 cm (emblem only)
Year	c. 1959
Estimate

 

In addition, there were a few vendors who offered a city coat of arms as an accessory that could be swapped out for the Wolfsburg emblem. Here is an example for Hamburg.

 

For more emblems see older posts or top right ( list of car makers ).

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WINDSOR / UK

                        WINDSOR / Notting Hill / London UK  ( 1924 - 1927 )

In 1924, six years after the end of World War I, the choice of this name was a statement and, not coincidentally, a reference to the monarchy.

The WINDSOR Automobile Company was a short-lived firm that existed only from 1924 to 1927. It offered a car that was quite modern for its time, already equipped with four-wheel brakes, but it was far too expensive. The car cost at least 360 pounds, which was too much for a 4-cylinder car with less than 1,400 ccm. Production ceased in 1927 after fewer than 350 vehicles had been built, making WINDSOR emblems a hard to find item.

not an exclusive design, but a rare piece

 

Size	8.0 cm x 2.9cm
Year	1924 - 1927
Estimate

 

backside with makers mark from J.R.GAUNT LONDON

 

Documents from WINDSOR aren't easy to find; here's one of the rare advertisements.

 

If you want to learn more about the American Windsor emblems please click here!

For more emblems see older posts or top right ( list of car makers ).

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FAUN / GER

FAUN / Nürnberg , Ansbach / Germany  ( 1918 - 1990 )

The  German FAUN (= Fahrzeugfabriken Ansbach und Nürnberg) started truck production in 1918.
In 1924 to 1927 they offered a private car without any commercial success.   Commercial trucks were built from 1918 to 1990. 

FAUN is the ancient Italian god of nature and the forest. This is the origin of the image of his rustic face, as seen on the FAUN emblems. 

The first enameled truck emblem I was able to identify comes here:

first FAUN truck emblem

Size	5.6 cm x 5.6 cm
Year	1919 - 1920
Estimate

1921 advertisement,  emblem with FAUN head

In the mid-1920s, FAUN attempted to expand its model lineup and, and for a short time—with relatively little success—offered a private car. Here I present to you the rare radiator emblem of the private car of 1924:

emblem for the only private car they offered

Size	c. 6 cm
Year	1924 - 1927
Estimate

1925 FAUN car type K2

Back to FAUN trucks:

In 1923, the FAUN truck radiator had only embossed lettering on it; it did not yet have an emblem, as this illustration of German truck radiators from 1923 shows. 

FAUN in the second row, on the left

 

I was able to find this beautiful emblem, which depicts the FAUN's face with a historic tower from Nuremberg as a headdress. I don't have a contemporary photo, but the design of this emblem was patented in 1928, and an advertisement shows a very similar, triangular emblem.

 

 

Size	7.0 cm x 7.4 cm
Year	c. 1930
Estimate

 

 

 

the emblem design was patented in 1927

 1930 brochure showing a triangle FAUN emblem:

I see the difference between the drawn emblem and the actual emblem as a result of artistic creativity.

 

 

The tower from the FAUN emblem still exists in Nuremberg's Old Town 

The next enameled truck emblem appeared in 1931:

Size	7.0 cm x 7.4 cm
Year	1931
Estimate

this emblem design was patented in 1931

one of the rare survivor showing an emblem with traces of decades of use

In the late 1930s the emblem was modernized:

Size	7.0 cm x 7.4 cm
Year	c. 1936
Estimate

backside without makers mark

After WWII there were metal emblems only like this nice radiator cap.

Front of a fire truck, seen in a German museum:

FAUN emblem made in the nineteensixties

Very few FAUN trucks have survived. But there was a drawing of the  FAUN emblem, which was made by the Swedish boy Gustaf Moeller back in the 1920s. Gustaf lived near the ferry port in Helsingborg / Sweden and drew the emblems of the waiting cars there. What a great hobby that still helps and delights us a hundred years later:

 drawing made by Gustaf Moeller in the 1920s 

Back to the beginning. Before 1918, there was a fairly simple emblem, which can be seen here on a radiator painted in military camouflage colors.

 

 

For more car and truck emblems see older posts or top right ( list of car makers ).

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PUCH / AUSTRIA

 PUCH WERKE AG / GRAZ / AUSTRIA  ( 1890 - 1927 )

Johann Puch, a bicycle mechanic from Graz, Austria, founded a bicycle factory in 1890 and sold his bicycles under the name STYRIA.

In 1896, Puch entered into a partnership with the Dürkopp company in Bielefeld; however, the collaboration ended in 1897 when Johann Puch left the company he had founded. The company, now owned by Dürkopp, retained Johann Puch’s name in its corporate title for another 10 years.  

PUCH cars also successfully competed in numerous hill climbs and Alpine races.  

After World War I, JOHANN PUCH AG became part of AUSTRO-DAIMLER, where PUCH automobile production was temporarily discontinued in favor of two-wheeled vehicle production. Today, “STEYR-DAIMLER-PUCH AG” produces, among other models, the PUCH G off-road vehicle.

Size	c. 7.5 cm
Year	1913- 1919
Estimate

PUCH  Typ 14 /38 PS 1913 - 1923 ( photo collection Michael Schlenger )

A beautifully weathered enamel sign that serves as a joint advertisement for AUSTRO - DAIMLER and PUCH

1915 advertisement proudly showing the emblem twice

Only a few vehicles of PUCH have survived and I couldn't find a complete vehicle with the emblem shown above. But there was a drawing of the 1913 - 1919 emblem, which was made by the Swedish boy Gustaf Moeller back in the 1920s. Gustaf lived near the ferry port in Helsingborg / Sweden and drew the emblems of the waiting cars there. What a great hobby that still helps and delights us a hundred years later: 

After the end of World War I,and the end of the dual monarchy the double-headed eagle of Austria-Hungary could no longer be used. A new emblem was needed. This is what PUCH came up with:

Size	c. 5.5 cm x 6.5 cm
Year	1919- 1927
Estimate

PUCH Typ III Alpenwagen  14/38 PS   ( photo  Vorkriegsklassiker-Rundschau Blog )

A close-up of the photo above that clearly shows the emblem

As early as the 1920s, PUCH was offering tractors and automobiles, as this advertisement from October 1921 shows. The new emblem is also featured.

Another period photo showing the emblem

Very early advertising sign, seen at a flea market in Austria in 2023

The PUCH automobile with v-shaped radiator must have been available at least until 1927, as evidenced by this advertisement from that year

Yes, before the enamel emblems, there was a pretty simple PUCH emblem. Can anyone see it?

In this enlarged view, it is clearly visible

As far as I know, the next automobile bearing the name PUCH wasn't produced again until after WW II. It was a licensed version of the FIAT 500, but with a different 2-cylinder boxer engine that was better suited for the mountains in Austria.

Here the front emblem, used from 1957 to 1959,

Here a fake radiator grill—because the car had an air-cooled rear engine

Size	30.5 cm x 14.5 cm
Year	1957- 1959
Estimate

The second version, which was installed in 1959, was also a fake version of a radiator air intake.

Size	54 cm x 13 cm
Year	1959 - 1976
Estimate

This part is made of solid aluminum; there are no open air intakes

As is almost always the case, there's a plastic badge at the end; this one was probably mounted on a tractor.

PUCH had already acquired AUSTRO-DAIMLER in 1912, and the company continued to manufacture vehicles under its own name until 1936.  For more information about AUSTRO - DAIMLER please click here.

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