Old curiosity shop
> Behind the scenes in ‘the Depot’: VW’s own warehouse of rare and remarkable automobiles...
IN a nondescript industrial building, a few miles away from the sprawling Volkswagen AG headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, there is an automotive treasure trove very few people know about. But among those in the know, it’s called “the Depot.”
The Depot is just one part of Autostadt, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG that runs the car delivery centre and automotive theme park adjacent to the factory at Wolfsburg. The 6,500-square metre Depot houses the majority of Autostadt’s collection of 260 vehicles, representing no fewer than 66 different makes. Seventy or more of the vehicles are on display at any one time in the Zeithaus (“House of Time”) Museum at Autostadt, telling the story of the automobile down the ages.
Shortly after Autostadt opened its doors – in June 1, 2000 – the company was given a budget to buy cars, usually at the rate of about 10 a year, to add to an existing small collection. As the number of cars grew, so did the need for somewhere to house them. Hence, the Depot.
The cars here don’t just sit. The facility has a number of bays with car lifts and a small machine shop, which allows the staff to ensure that vehicles can be used at rallies and other events. Autostadt believes that the cars should be used for the purpose for which they were designed, which gives them the dual role as ambassadors for the company.
Restoration projects are also managed through this facility. Generally, that’s not how Autostadt buys cars, says master technician Gerald Schroder: “We prefer to buy cars that are in the best possible condition when they come on the market.” But if Autostadt can’t get a perfect car, they will restore one to the best possible condition.
The most impressive aspect of the Depot is not the number of cars, but the number of brands represented here. In addition to Volkswagen Group vehicles – among them, Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Porsche, Bentley, Bugatti, and Lamborghini – there are cars from other automakers. They are housed at the Depot because they are automotive milestones, and one of Autostadt’s aims is to tell the history of the automobile and educate and inform the visitors to the Zeithaus.
Schroder pointed to a nondescript white 1967 Beetle with British registration plates and told us that it was acquired because it is one of the most famous Beetles in the world, as it is in the background of a famous photo taken in Abbey Road, London.
Andreas Hornig, the technical leader for Autostadt, showed us a time capsule Golf GTI, Golf, Corrado G60, and super-rare Rallye Golf. A dealer had called him, and told him that he had a special Beetle. He had 15 cars and wanted them to go back to their maker. The GTI, with 175 kilometres on the clock, is so untouched that when it is shown, owners pore over it because it is the perfect reference for their own restoration attempts. There’s another 1983 Golf GTI in the collection that was found in a corner of the factory: no papers, 284 kilometres on the odometer, but the engine had never been started – it was pushed from place to place.
Our favourite vehicle in the Depot? There are almost too many to choose from, but the millionth post-war Volkswagen, a Beetle that came off the line on Aug 5, 1955 (top, right), is a rare gem, almost literally. The special car was painted gold, with special upholstery that looks a bit like a mid-century sofa. All the exterior metal trim pieces – hood stripe, bumpers, headlight shrouds, side trim and running boards – were originally encrusted with rhinestones, but over the years people pried them off and took them home as souvenirs. As a result, the Beetle currently sports replacement crystals. – newsroom.vw.com