Over the weekend, a post began circulating on Facebook showing the rears of a group of dusty split-window VW Beetles. Then, more pictures began to appear showing what appeared to be a Porsche Speedster, followed by a pair of BMW 328 roadsters from the 1930s! Further scrambling and investigation found a post on Samba which seems to verify that a mother lode of collectible vehicles are resting in Kansas, waiting for exhumation following the owner’s death.
The photos are all either poor quality or pictures of pictures, such as this one showing the highly desirable BMW 328s. I have only seen these in hardcover books. I might have spotted one in BMW’s museum. Suffice to say, two of them in project-car condition does not happen every day, or even every ten years. All of the vehicles are stored in a Quonset hut and are quite dusty.
The trademark low-cut windshield is a dead giveaway that this is Speedster and rumours are circulating that it has already been sold. Nothing seems certain about this find until it’s either with an auctioneer or the collection simply sells privately, as the current overseer of the cars is the owner of a well-known VW shop in New Mexico. For all we know, the cars have already been paid for.
What’s even more intriguing is that the deceased owner, who left no heirs, also had an eye for collectible cars beyond his preferred VWs. There is a desirable Ford “Deuce” coupe in the foreground, and a variety of other bodies and parts. There are rumours of a motherlode of OEM and NOS VW parts. If the parts are from the same era as the split windows, you can be sure there are some highly desirable components locked away.
There are numerous other cars in the photos, including this early Bus. It seems like the sale was put on hold for years after the lawyers got involved, and I’m not sure who technically now owns the collection. Did it go the state? Or did the owner have siblings who knew of his prized possessions? Either way, there looks to be a fair amount of money on the table. Although some commenters think the split windows aren’t worth as much because they are lacking engines, I’m sure some of them will find their way overseas.
Photos of the Beetles, 356, and the ’32s courtesy of Adam Blickhahn! Special thanks to Adam for sharing more photos with us!
