The Tatraplan of Josef Krümpelbeck was used by two Holocaust survivors for an European tour.
Landkreis, Tuesday, 06:04:10
By Thomas Vorwerk
Emstek (Germany)- Josef Krümpelbeck needs only to be given a keyword and then it gushes out of him: Tatra. The automotive forger from the former Czechoslovakia has infected the Emstek resident and what began with an initial flirtation, has become an obsession that made him curious about its backgrounds. “I then drove a beetle and had some VW books too. It said that in the development of Porsche’s car has been inspired by the Tatra, “recalls the 35-year-old. The more he dealt with the topic, the more he became interested in the streamlined vehicle with the boxer engine in the rear.
Eventually a black Tatra 600 stood in the yard of orthopedic shoemaker, after he had himself had bought one in the Czech Republic. “A lot had to be repaired,” decibes Krümpelbeck its condition. Really happy he did not become from this purchase, But now he had contacts in the Tatra scene. He sold the black Tatra and purchased aother one from Adolf Kunz. “With him I had been looking for spare parts and as he became very ill, he wanted to give his car in good hands.”Quite a bit of time passed by however as Kunz had a hard time to be separated from his sweetheart. “Always in the mirror, always look in the mirror,” he had told Krümpelbeck during the trial run in 2003 numerous times. Rightly so, because the rear visibility is very limited and the supply of spare parts is not without problems. “There is a club however which has contacts in the Czech Republic. Some parts are still to have.
Krümpelbeck is not afraid to reair the car. “Most of it I do myself. Many things I try out and the technique is also very managable. “I also have a workshop manual in German, which is very detailed. “A reasonably talented amateur can do the job”.
The 600, also known as Tatraplan, was built between 1948 and 1951 at Tatra and then a few years at Skoda, as a separate truck-(Tatra) and automobileproduction (Skoda) was enacted politically.
About another previous owner’s history, Krümpelbeck has been touched. Adolf Kunz bought the car from Edgar Mannheimer. Edgar, also shoemaker,and his brother Max, who survived the Holocaust, unlike their parents and three of her siblings. ( See also an earlier posting: http://www.tatraworld.nl/2010/04/02/max-mannheimer-a-man-with-a-mission/) Max Mannheimer is now 90 years and lectures on the Holocaust. “This week he called me. I had written him a letter and told him that the car has landed with me. “The painter and writer told me that he drove with his brother in that very car to England and Vienna. “A very good car,” enthused the Munich citizen Krümpelbeck.
Such long distances are not longer expected from the 60-year-old car. When it comes to a distant Tatra meeting, the Oldtimerfan rather prefers his Tatra 613 from 1979. The eight-cylinder car was actually built as a pure apparatschik car and and was quite comfortable. Only one batch that was originally destined for North Korea arrived to the free market, as the communist brother state could not pay. The T 613 was built over 20 years and a ready to use 8-cylinder Tatra you can buy after some research for 3000 euros,” says the lover. The car is easy to maintain and even has a lamp under its bonnet in its engine bay..
For one of the future Tatra meetings, Krümpelbeck will probably use his beloved Tatraplan. The Meeting of the Tatra Register Deutschland 2011 (August 4-8, 2011, http://www.tatraworld.nl/events-calendar/) will be held in the Cloppenburg district and will include a visit to a museum village. The Tatraplan will this year be used for classic car rallies nearby.
For his best trip ever the silver-painted 600 was used as well. Joseph and Ursula KrümpelbBeck have used the vintage car on their wedding day for their ride to church and when one looks today at the wedding photo, you could almost get the idea that it must have been early 50’s, when this photo was taken..
Original text in German: http://www.mt-news.de/contentphp/article.php?aid=21511&code=view