Wolfsburg 2006 Full Report Part 1 (56k put the kettle on)

Finally got round to writing my report of my trip to Wolfsburg last month. I went over primarily for the German Mk1 Golf meet, but of course I took the chance to visit a few other places including the Autostadt that was new to me (I last went 8 years ago), the factory and the VW Museum.

I ended up driving over in my Signum due to the distance involved and I needed a speedy journey due to work commitments before and after the trip. It only took less than 5 hours from Calais for a distance of around 450 miles and I got out the other side fresh as a daisy so was pleased to travel in comfort. The only boring part of the journey is from Duisburg to Hannover, over 100 miles with not much in between. Otherwise the cities flashed by, especially making use of the derestricted sections of German autobahn. On board I had a full set of tartan seats that I planned to sell at the meet, plus plenty of munchies to keep me going.

After travelling over on the Thursday and a good night?s sleep in the Holiday Inn Wolfsburg (recommended), my first stop was the VW Classic Parts Centre to pick up some much needed parts for spares and my restorations. They mostly deal with aircooled stuff and their English is not so good but speaking some of the local lingo got me through.

Rare as hen?s teeth Hebmuller sat outside



Next up was the Autostadt and I was unsure what to expect really. 15 Euro bought me a day ticket though you can get annual passes, evening passes and discounts for groups. Guided tours in English are available but I decided to go round at my leisure, besides I knew I wanted some nice photos. The Autostadt is all about brand marketing and there are separate strange looking buildings with displays for each of the VW brands, VW, Audi, Seat, Skoda, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, and VW Commercials. The VW exhibition centred around a 360 film cinema with some short films featuring some of the models similar to a long ad. Kind of like being brainwashed in a washing machine! After watching the film you walk through to a circular room displaying the concept behind the new Fox. Well this is what it was supposed to be, but it looked like the makers were smoking some illegal substances at the time! Over at the Audi building, the new TT was being shown off ahead of its September launch. A good chance to see the car from different angles as you descend underground to its location, as well as sit inside and poke about. The nice Audi lady informed me (in German) that the new TT was no heavier than the outgoing model due to the aluminium panels (only the tailgate and doors are steel) and that I looked at ease in the driver seat. Yeah right lady (I own a Mk1 don?t you know)!

The Autostadt resides alongside the main canal





Sheepish Fox concept, best interior award goes too?







New TT





By far the most interesting part of the Autostadt is the ?Time House?, half museum - half activity centre. The multi storey building houses some of VW?s finest alongside some other classic machinery from other manufacturers. Its interesting to see how it compares with the VW Museum itself, I can see some fighting over the best VWs going on there! It was good to see such a wide variety of cars here, all in excellent shape, and I took the opportunity to crawl all over the Mk1s despite some strange looks from security! Here I also met some guys who travelled over from Austria, also for the Mk1 meet, and we talked about all sad things Mk1 comparing notes on the detail. One floor was devoted to small fun activities about car development from experimenting with spoilers in a miniature wind tunnel to controlling solar powered scale beetles around a course with a spot lamp ? great for the kids (and me? ops: ).

W12 supercar never made it to production





Diablo GT



Proper Countach





E-Type



Interesting little Honda



Nice Mk1 Capri



T-bird



Pampered Merc SL



Late Karmann Ghia Convertible



1978 Scriocco





Dakar Rally Touregythingy



My soft spot for the Austin 7 was complete



Old 2CV featured an interior more basic than a pedal car





1946 Splittie



1950 Splittie



Glorious gold 1955 Oval





Last Mexican Bug off the line



Slightly faster RSi



NSU RO80



Classic Porsche



411 Variant has always been a favourite



Early 1956 DS was far out





Audi 60



Audi 100



Asian 2000 Santana



DKW Van



Type 2 in full livery



Sport Quattro, never take a ride in a car with your blood group after your name!





Mk1 line up



1979 GLS



1980 GLS Cabriolet



1983 GTi (non Campaign/Pirelli) with only 250 kms on the clock!





Build manifest sheet still in place on the windscreen!



Note late style door lock pins, clearly not confined to Campaigns only, but a chassis breakpoint for all Golfs (Campaigns, Pirellis, GTis, carb models, etc)



1977 Golf had Wolfsburg Golf production line film being shown above from November 1976 (dated from the clapperboard!)



Yes, I did photo every part



Front panel welded on



Rear panel



Electrophosphate dipping



Paintshop



Engine mounted from below, easy with a tilting table





How much would a November 76 GTi be worth now?



Final testing



The last aspect to the Autostadt is customer collection, whereby the new owner can pick up their VW direct from the factory (at least in the case of the Golf!). Two massive glass towers store the cars until the collection time when a central lift takes them underground and they are driven to the collection point. Here the customer has their plates fitted and is shown around the car?s features before driving off into the sunset (OK I made that last bit up). You would have thought that only Golfs or the high end products were picked up from local people, but no. From Foxes to Phaetons, from Wolfsburg to Munich this service seems popular and I was very envious of folks driving out in Eos? and R32s

One of two storage towers



R32 awaits new owner



Finally, the Autostadt is now the point the factory tours start from. You used to have to walk under the canal and up to the factory itself but now custom built road trains leave the central pick up point at regular intervals. There is only one English language tour a day so make sure you book ahead for this, the cost is included in your pass. No photos are allowed but it is fascinating viewing if you have not been before. I always remember the first time I saw a dozen enormous presses next to each other practically shaking the ground!

Where it all started?



Now?



And then?



It was interesting to see the Autostadt for the first time and I can recommend it but take over a day for it as there is so much to see and do (I missed a fair bit). Plenty of stuff for kids to do as well as shops and nice places to eat.

Now read Part 2 for the VW Museum and Mk1 Meet?? :wink:

blimey you were  busy .Looks like it was a mint event though
and weather looks grand great pictures. :notworthy:

Great Pictures, looks quality! :y:

dubboy said

I do love original car design :y:


I thought VAG had only stolen the Focus chassis designer after the limp attempt that was the mk4 :twisted:  

Rajan, Fantastic write up and Photo's. I wish I'd have stopped over a couple of days extra and travelled over, when I went to the World Cup.

Oh and I'd give my right ball for any of those cars (Apart from the pink and the furry one!!) That Heb & the 46' split are rare beasts. It would have to be the speedster for me though…..stunning.

Is that a Grill badge stuck on the steering wheel of the W12??

WOW thanks for that enjoyed reading that whilst eating my sandwich. Some awesome cars and pictures. I feel a holiday to Germany is needed.

BaltiPie said

Is that a Grill badge stuck on the steering wheel of the W12??

Not sure I would have the nerve to try finding out  

Cheers for that, was a great read

I love those old posters, with the train full of unregistered little mk1s etc.  

So cool 8)

superb thanks!!

love that citroens steering wheel!!

nice..

Nice write up and some excellent photos there.

P.S where is part 2??