VW had a tourist delivery program from the 50's on. One could order a specific vehicle from one's local dealer, and a German dealer (or later, the VW tourist delivery depot in Wolfsburg, or at the Frankfurt a.M. airport) would prepare the car for pickup, with customs license plates, temporary paperwork and tourist car insurance. The tourist would then have the opportunity to drive the car around Europe, and return the vehicle to a predetermined shipping-off location on an agreed-upon date. Then fly home, then after a month or two, pick up the vehicle either at the port or the local dealer.
"retrowagen" wrote: