You've Never Seen This Amazing Car Collection From Germany Before

Snow Trac

One of the rarest pieces in the depot of the PS.Speicher is the AB Westeras Maskinder from Sweden. This continuous track vehicle was built between 1957 and 1981 and around 2,000 copies were produced. Special feature: it was largely based on Volkswagen Beetle parts, including the 28-hp boxer engine.

Ford wood gas truck

This picture shows the sheer mass of vehicles in the depot. In the foreground, you'll see a wood gas powered Ford truck from 1941.

Ford Transits

Small delivery vans aren't missing here, too. On the left, a couple of old Ford Transits are parked in a row. And that Transit flatbed truck with an old Kreidler Florett moped on it is simply adorable.

Mercedes-Benz trucks

Mercedes-Benz trucks are lined up like pearls. Despite certain similarities with products from Stuttgart, there's also a Fiat truck on the left side.

Borgward trucks

In the 1950s, Borgward got involved in the West German truck market. The B 4500 Diesel proudly stretches his powerful nose in the museum. Nowadays, the name Borgward is making a comeback in China.

Borgward commercial vehicles

Meanwhile, the old commercial vehicles from the old Borgward Group have become very rare. On the left, we see a Goliath Express 1100 from 1958.

Autozam Scrum

Wait, what's going on here? Is this a VW T1? Nope, it's an Autozam Scrum from 1990, a Japanese platform truck with a retro VW-inspired face.

Citroën Coccinelle III Le Bastard

This Citroën Coccinelle III Le Bastard is unique. Based on the type H corrugated iron bus of the French brand, the company's Carrosserie Le Bastard converted it into a noble motorhome in 1957.

Fiat trucks

Eight axles, 13.8-liters of displacement, and 260 hp (194 kW): this 732-inch (18.6-meter) long Fiat 691NB Viberti V18S with Calabrese-trailer was built before the Iveco-era in 1974. The number of axles was necessary due to Italian legislation, which was the only way to achieve a total weight of 44 tons.

Tempo buses and vans

Until 1965, the Tempo plant in Hamburg built vans with three and four wheels. Here we see the Viking and its bus counterpart, the Rapid.

Small cars collection

Let's change the depot and go to the small car collection of the PS.Speicher. It is also made accessible to the public on certain days.

Trabant collection

Rooftop tents for cars made by Gerhard Mueller, 9103 Limbach Oberfrohna. That's written at the tent on the top of the Trabant. At the time of the German Democratic Republic, it was a very popular (but still rare) extra.

AWS Shopper

After the production end of the tiny Goggomobil in 1969, Mr. Walter Schaetzle created a market gap. At that time, many drivers in West Germany owned a basic Class-4-drivers license. If attained before 1954, it allowed driving a vehicle with up to 250-cc engine.

So, Schaetzle built the primitive AWS Shopper based on the Goggomobil between 1970 and 1974 in Western Berlin. At the small car collection of the PS.Speicher, you'll find two AWS prototypes: an open-top transport vehicle for industrial use and a small flatbed truck.

Kleinschnittger cars

Space is precious in the depots. And so the small cars are stacked on special shelves. In the foreground, we see two models of the dwarfy Kleinschnittger car from the 1950s.

Velam Isetta

Everyone knows the BMW Isetta. But not the Velam: in addition to BMW, the company from Suresnes in France also acquired a license from the Italian manufacturer ISO for the bubbly Isetta. Between 1955 and 1957, a total of 7,115 vehicles were built.

Peel Trident

Many of you probably know the smallest car in the world, the Peel P50. Cult host Jeremy Clarkson used to drive it around the BBC building. Less famous is the successor of the P50 - Peel launched the 74-inch (1.9-meter) long Trident in 1964.

English midgets

Most of these shelves are filled with English midgets.

PS.Speicher main building

We leave the depots and head to the PS.Speicher main building. Originally, the building was a granary, hence its modern name. Since 2014, more than 400 exhibits have found their new home here on six floors. The site also includes a hotel and a hall for up to 1,000 people.

DKW wooden body

What was hidden under the chic shell in pre-war times? This DKW with wooden body shows vividly the body construction of that time.

Karl von Drais bike

Chronologically, the permanent exhibition in the PS.Speicher does not begin in 1886 with the Benz tricycle (one is nevertheless shown), but with the balance bike of Karl von Drais from 1817.

Hildebrand & Wolfmüller motorcycle

The Hildebrand & Wolfmüller of 1894 was the first series-produced motorcycle in the world. Only eight copies have survived until today.

Driving a Hanomag Kommissbrot

Interactivity is written in capital letters in the PS.Speicher: at the wheel of a Hanomag Kommissbrot you can venture into the traffic of the 1920s.

Shop windows

If your partners in life are not quite interested in cars and motorcycles, that's not a problem. The PS.Speicher store also has lovely decorated shop windows. They present the product portfolio of the 1950s in Western Germany.

The bar

The 1950s at a glance: in the milk bar, the youngsters of that time can dive into memories.

Motorhomes

Nowadays, we go on holidays in big motorhomes. It used to be different: Simson Schwalbe (GDR) and Zündapp Janus (Federal Republic of Germany) represent the two parts of Germany.

Honda and Yamaha motorcycles

At the end of the 1960s/beginning of the 1970s, Japanese brands started to stir up the motorcycle market. This is represented by these two machines from Yamaha and Honda.

Small and very small cars

A special exhibition in the PS.Speicher is dedicated to small and very small cars. In the foreground, we see the Bond Bug, a British tricycle wedge from the 1970s.

Goggo Transporter

Some of you will know the tiny Goggomobil. The situation is completely different with the Goggo Transporter, which is only 115 inches (1.91 meters) long. Not even 4,000 units were built, almost all worn out in commercial use.

Messerschmitt scooter

The cult Messerschmitt cabin scooter was built until 1964.

Bruetsch Mopetta and Peel P50

Can you still call these two vehicles cars? The Bruetsch Mopetta (left) from 1956 has a length of 70 inches (1.70 meters) and 2.3 hp. The Peel P50 (right) is 52-inch (1.32-meter) long and offers 4 hp.

Renault 4

A lot of space for little money: the Renault 4 was popular not only among students. This photo shows what fits inside the French hatch/wagon.

Sebring-Vanguard Citicar

Another special exhibition in the PS.Speicher is dedicated to the more than century-long history of electromobility. The Sebring-Vanguard Citicar of 1975 came with 40 miles (64 km) of range. With a total of 4,444 units built, it was the best-selling electric car in the U.S. until 2012.

Peugeot VLV

This is a truly rare vehicle, the VLV, which Peugeot developed in 1943 in the middle of the war. 350 kg (771 lbs) and a range of 50 miles (80 km) are the key numbers.