I know I have gone on about this before... but it is very interesting to me.
Der Edel Kafer reiterates Rometsch's numbers of approx 500 Beeskows made. I don't think this is possible. Ex factory workers seem to confirm that Rometsch built them at about 1 every two weeks.
52 weeks a year equals 25 or 26 cars a year. If they started in 1950... and built them through 1957... 7 years... then 7 x 25 is 175 cars.
When I look at the body numbers and the year of that body... it confirms a slightly LESS than 25 per year accounting except for 1957 when maybe 40 cars were made. My car is body 230... and was built on a beetle manufactured in late 1956. They stopped production of the Beeskow in 1957 and the highest body numbers seen are in the 270's
Nobody has seen a car with a body number less than 3 digits.... which means that they started with car 100. The Split window cars don't have numbers but we have not seen any low 100's body numbers on the later curved windshield cars so I assume that 100 was the beginning of Split production (if over 100 split cabs were made... we would have seen more of them over the past 50 years)
I just can't see how they keep saying that 500 beeskows were built. I think that it is only 170- 175 cars built. The later Lawrence cars all seem to have 500 series body numbers in my limited experience. I don't know of any with other than a 500 series number but I presume there must be some in the 600? I presume again... that Rometsch started the Lawrence series with body number 500... being the first one.
Christian... can you show us the data and clear this up finally? Anyone else care to add their thoughts?
Eric
protect me from what I want