Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/05/27
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 03:52 PM 5/27/05 +0200, Douglas Sharp wrote: >I'm sure there are plenty of us on the list who can fill you in on the >history of Leica. And there are some of us on the LUG who can fill you in on the details you omit on the history of the Kdf-Wagen. I have around 750,000 miles (1,200.000km) piloting early air-cooled VW's around the roads of the US. At one point, when a group of warrant officers were restoring a Kubelwagen for the Ordnance Museum at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, I was callled in as a resident expert to explain to them the construction of the 25-hp motor and the care and maintenance of the 28 PC carb. (The VW motor remained essentially unchanged from its origin until 1960, an engine designed to last, with routine service, for 200,000km (125,000 miles or so) and, after a minor rebuild, for that length of service again. The later 40hp engines were capable of far greater pwoer and led to the curent excursus into the nitro powered ones we witness occasionally today. But, in the end, the basic VW engine was a winner and I still have a single such engine in my basement, waiting that 1957 Van I want to use for camping. Damn!) Marc msmall@aya.yale.edu Cha robh b?s fir gun ghr?s fir! NEW FAX NUMBER: +540-343-8505