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The Grundmann museum have a fa
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Sorry posted too fas
I was saying that the Grundmann museum has a fabulous collection of Rommetsch
Above one bieng restaured
Some of the already restaured Rommetsch
Rommetsch Karrosserie also built for VW a series of 4 doors VW bug taxis
A very early 356 speedster with a Glasspart top
An helicopter with a VW engine
The first ever built Westfalia VW Kombi given to the Grundmann family by Westfalia when the company was bought by Mercedes
VW transporter with a formula Vee
Reconstitution of a timepast work shop
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VW powered small lorry built by VW to carry heavy parts in the factory
And last but not least the DDR Porsche copy
The VW combi you may see alongside is also a copy made by hand in the DDR
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We are in 1954 in the East Germany city of Dresden
Knut and Falk Reimann are twin brothers
In 1954 although East Germany waComment
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In 1954 although Dresden is in the DDR the Berlin wall was not yet built and
enthousiast yougsters as the Reimann twins know perfectly what's happen in West Germany
They dream to owe a Porsche 356
Impossible dream for DDR citizen so the only solution is to built it themselves
At that time the Reimann twins are still students so they will need some help to achieve their dream
This help will come from a Dresden Karrosserie belonging to Arno and Helfried Lindner
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In 1954 although Dresden is in the DDR the Berlin wall was not yet built and
enthousiast yougsters as the Reimann twins know perfectly what's happen in West Germany
They dream to owe a Porsche 356
Impossible dream for DDR citizen so the only solution is to built it themselves
At that time the Reimann twins are still students so they will need some help to achieve their dream
This help will come from a Dresden Karrosserie belonging to Arno and Helfried Lindner
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On the contrary of what is done to day by the Replica constructors, the Reimann twins decided to kept the chassis as it was and not cut off 30 cm
Therefore although looking similar to the 356 their car will be longer by 30 centimeters than a standard 356
In these years DDR was laking of everything and it was very difficult not to saComment
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In this mid 50's years the DDR citizen were lacking of everything
Impossible to get steel sheets
The Reinmann twins had the idea to built an Oak frame on which they will display reuperation metal
Not less than 30 off pre war Ford boots were used
After many many work hours they got something who was not too bad looking
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The Reinmann twins paid 3500 DM to Lindner for he coachwork
They also open a workshop in their parent house to assemble the car
The first completed car was fitted with a straight forward 24 HP VW engine who had was a little bit weak to move quickly this car
In 1956 the Reinmann twins arranged to obtain a western Germany registration plate for their car which allowed them to go out of East Germany with their respective girl friends
Their first trip was to Switzerland for skying
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To save money the Reinmann twins had only one driving licence for two but they were never caught
Next trip was to Zuffenhausen in June 56
They tried to obtain an appointment with Ferry Porsche but at the time of their visit Ferry was in France for the le Mans 24 hours race
They were received by a secretary who promise to inform Ferry
When Ferry first heard of this DDR Porsche copy he was quite furious but after reflexion he admired the Reinmann work and gave instruction to the Berlin VW agent to deliver them Porsche components to transform their straight forward 24 HP VW into a 60 HP Porsche
Herewith sope letters between Porsche and the Reinmann
The Reinmann twins being out of DDR took this opportunity to travel all trough Europe with their girl friends
The Lindner Porsche is seen here in front of the Eiffel tower in Paris
In front of the Colisee in Rome
Along a Swiss lake
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We have seen above that Ferry after having been reluctant finally gave his approval to the Reinmann brothers to build some more cars at the condition that the word Porsche not to be used
The Lindner brothers then engaged the Reinmann twins and started the production of what be called the Lindner Porschelei
A total of 13 cars was build and sold
Some more photos of the Lindner Porschelei
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A mystery I have not solved
I have found pics of a Lindner with a split windscreen
Was it the original first car ?
Who know ?
Out of the 13 cars built threee have survived
The first restauration was done by an ex-german pilot named Hans Miersched
When he restaured his car nobody knew the Lindner history so instead calling his car a Lindner Porsche he called her Miersch Porsche
a video on this car
www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4uIG5GSfg0Comment
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From 1956 to 1961 the Reinmann twins continue to play with the Communist authorities to obtain real Porsche components to incorporate into their cars
1961 is the year where the Berlin wall was built and the "cold war" culminate
The Reinmann twins excentricities were no longer tolerated and the two brothers put in jail
They were realeased by end 1962
Knut move from Dresden to Berlin, Falk to Budapest in Hungary and it was the end of the aventure
As we have seen above a first car was discovered and rebuilt by Hans Miersch
In 2008 an Austrian guy named Alexander Fritz discover a second one
He knew nothing about the Reinmann Lindner story but started to dig the net
He also obtain Knut and Falk Reinmann adresses and get in contact with them
Did the same for Arno Lindner
The car was then moved to Hungary where the labor cost was much lower than in Austria
The car was then completely re constructed as fery few of the original car was savableAttached FilesComment
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Full restauration work may be found in this video
www.youtube.com/watch?v=81AqTfMhHZMComment
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