Recent windtunnel surprise of the Volkhart V2 Sagitta Concept
RareONES What is this car? How come it looks so weird? Those are the words that might come out the first time you see the shape of this classic car. Frankly, we have also never known before if a vehicle like this ever existed and still survives to this day.
The Volkhart V2 Sagitta was the 2nd prototype designed by Kurt C Volkhart and Baron R König von Fachsenfeld based on the Volkswagen Beetle 1st generation aka the KdF Wagen TYpe 60. (Picture from: ClassicCarWeekly.net)
Actually, the car named Volkhart V2 Sagitta is not too strange enough, if viewed from the basis of what the car was built. Well, actually this car was built based on the Volkswagen Beetle 1st generation also known as the KdF Wagen Type 60 which was produced between 1937 and 1944.
The Volkhart V2 Sagitta formerly known as the Luftwaffe 'courier car' due to it developed and built as a part of the Luftwaffe's need before the war for a small, fast and agile courier car.(Picture from: Bonham)
For your information, the most famous performance car based on the Volkswagen Beetle, of course the Porsche 356, but before that there were other cars which not many people know about is the Luftwaffe 'courier car' (thus the name of the car originally) at that time. How come?
The Volkhart V2 Sagitta is offered accommodation for 4/5 passengers inside its cabin, but never came close to series production. (Picture from: Hemmings)
As quoted from Bonham, the story began when the Luftwaffe needed a fast small car that would serve as a courier vehicle, while at the same time being light, reliable, cheap to build and simple to maintain. At that time, there's a German designer who understood aerodynamics named Kurt C Volkhart was partnered to design the car. Why should he?
The Volkhart V2 Sagitta when undergoing aerodynamic tests conducted by Volkswagen in its wind tunnel back in the 2011, produced a drag coefficient of 0.217 over a frontal area of 2.10 square meters. (Picture from: Hemmings)
In short, Volkhart had long ago recognised that performance could be improved by careful aerodynamic design, toward the end of the 1930s, he had come up with a small two-seater sports car called the V1, and powered by a rear-mounted 1,172 cc Ford Eifel engine with only 32 bhp of power. Unfortunately, it never went beyond the prototype stage.
The Volkhart V1 small two-seater sports coupe came out in the end of 1930s, and powered by a rear-mounted 1,172 cc Ford Eifel engine with only 32 bhp of power. (Picture from: Hemmings)
Development continued but was stopped later caused of the war, and the project would not resurface until 1947. At the time, Volkhart secured financial support from Sagitta to continue his aerodynamic sports car work, by building a teardrops-shaped prototype called V2 based on an early Volkswagen Beetle (technically a wartime KdF 60) chassis (with number 2-033683).
The Volkhart V2 Sagitta has inlets at the front, could be for the cabin ventilation, front brake cooling, horn, or a front mounted oil cooler. (Picture from: Hemmings)
And its slippery aluminum body was designed by Baron R König von Fachsenfeld, who would later produce many streamlined designs for several German automaker. While the construction of its aluminum body was entrusted to Helmut Fuchs in Niederwenningern, Ruhr, with additional work by Hans Daum's body shop.
The Volkhart V2 Sagitta is powered by a rear-mounted 1.1-liter flat-four good for 24 horsepower and a top speed of 88 mph. (Picture from: Hemmings)
It has one of the lowest coefficients of drag ever recorded for a road car, while its power is supplied by a rear-mounted 1.1-liter flat-four good
for 24 horsepower. This little thing was good for 88 mph, which was
faster than the first Porsches. Not only that, the new V2 offered accommodation for 4/5 passengers but never came close to series production, not the least because Volkswagen refused to provide chassis.
The Volkhart V2 Sagitta has a fan sucking air through that grille under rear window as for its engine cooling (although this 24 hp engine actually doesn't need much cooling). (Picture from: Hemmings)
As for the aerodynamic factor both Volkhart's prototypes, modern aerodynamicists later recalculated the V1's likely drag coefficient as 0.30, but when the V2 was tested in Volkswagen's wind tunnel in 2011 it was found to be 0.217, as good as the very best of modern designs. Wow, that's recent surprise of the Volkhart V2 Sagitta for us!!!
The Volkhart V2 Sagitta' last appearance in public under British racing green color was happened at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este 2012. (Picture from: Madle.org)
Only one example of the V2 Sagitta was built in 1947; it was purchased by Hugo Tigges, who had supplied the raw materials necessary during its construction. It was used by him as a daily rides for six years before abandoned languish in the garden back in the 1953. Only in 1955, Helmut Daum (son of the aforementioned Hans Daum) had permission to move this abandoned V2 car for further restoration.
The Volkhart V2 Sagitta' last appearance in public under British racing green color was happened at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este 2012. (Picture from: Madle.org)
Over the following decades, it was rebuilt and repainted several times, and finally the car finding its home with an Austrian Porsche collector named Walter Traxler. Its last appearance in public was happened at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este 2012. The last restoration process done shortly after the expo, which brought it back to its original silver color (from an British racing green repaint).
Recently, it was reported that the Volkhart V2 Sagitta was onlist on Lot 615 at an auction event in Paris entitled Les Grandes Marques du Monde à Paris (The Great Brands of the World in Paris) on February 2 2023 which was organized by Bonham with a price range of € 1,800,000 - € 2,600,000. (but then Withdrawn).😥 *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | CLASSICCARWEEKLY.NET | BONHAM | HEMMINGS | ULTIMATECARPAGE ]
