Class: Cars, Ambulance — Model origin:
Background vehicle
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◊ 2020-10-18 23:53 |
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◊ 2020-10-27 13:13 |
hashtag me too |
◊ 2022-12-11 18:31 |
Want some info you only find on IMCDb? It's actually a collaboration: Largely forgotten specialist coachbuilder Vogt Autotechnik ('Karosseriebau, Opel-PKW-Spezialaufbauten', Autohaus Hermann Vogt) of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler was the only company to hold the official permission for extending the Kapitän/Admiral/Diplomat-chassis and subsequently Miesen of Bonn completed the ambulance bodywork. ![]() |
◊ 2022-12-11 19:16 |
@AnimatronixX or anyone else - do you know anything about Admiral and Diplomat [B] Caravans?? I'm intrigued after some 1:43 race/rally support diecasts have started appearing from IXO/Altaya for "Team Opel Euro Handler" and for Irmscher team, with the Euro Handler car also as a 1:18 resin from Premium Classixxs. Have googled for more info but not much found. Seems Vogt did one-off full-size examples on Diplomat 2.8 and Admiral V8 (originally for a TV station), but these look different style. |
◊ 2022-12-11 20:26 |
@dsl: At first sight, I couldn't spot any major differences in style. All the links you posted show conversions using Rekord D hardware (there have also been some with Rekord C sheet metal) and that recipe was followed by Vogt Autotechnik for their Caravans. ![]() The Opel special vehicles department at Rüsselsheim allegedly also built a small (undefined) number of similar Caravans following the same recipe, which were used for racing events and such - it's safe to assume the "Team Opel Euro Händler" Caravan is one of these alleged factory-conversions and, depending on how close Irmscher Automobilbau GmbH & Co. KG was to the factory back then, I guess that goes for the Irmscher Team one, too. But then again, Vogt did a lot of jobs for Opel, often uncredited, so it's not even clear if the "factory ones" weren't actually made by Vogt as well. Vogt and Opel were very close and specialized Vogt parts (long propeller shafts, extended door sill plates) were available via the Opel dealer network, so 160 km between Rüsselsheim and Bad Neuenahr wouldn't be that much of a distance for "official" but "inofficial" Caravan conversions to be made by the people who are experienced in their craft. As you can guess, I believe they're all Vogt conversions, including the racing support cars, but I can't prove it. There is hardly any documentation of all these conversions, as Opel officially never talked about their various factory-conversions (a friend of mine once owned a factory-built Omega 3000 Caravan, that "never existed"...) and most of the Vogt Autotechnik documentation is lost. Being the only person I ever met to have owned two Vogt-bodied Opel funeral cars in the past, I did a lot of research back in pre-internet-times, just to find out that Vogt-successor Autohaus Bull (no longer with us) had no records at all - at least that's what they told me in the mid-1990s. But they connected me with a former Vogt employee back then, who also mainly confirmed how much of their work was not recorded at all and/ or not talked about. I never got the opportunity of doing a solid interview with him, though. Yeah, that's the headline of Vogt's work and exactly the reason why I decided to add them on this page, rather than leaving this ambulance a plain Miesen one. ![]() ![]() -- Last edit: 2022-12-11 21:41:03 |
◊ 2022-12-11 20:51 |
Thanks - interesting. I fancy getting one of the 1:43s for the sheer hell of it, but they don't seem to have landed in UK yet. I was looking at the C-pillar and top door corner as squared off on the models, compared to the Vogts looking regular curved saloon items, but closer look suggests models have same droop disguised by the black paint, so comment about differences withdrawn. Oddly the 1:18 doesn't have rear quarterlights but the 1:43s do - given the rear arch intrusion into the door, the 1:18 format window wouldn't be able to descend so I guess Premium Classixxs have goofed, with the 1:43s being correct and matching the full-size pics. |
◊ 2022-12-11 21:21 |
They haven't landed in Germany either, as it seems. All I found were offers from France and Italy. I could send you one, as I'm not afraid of UK-shipping, but I expect the combined shipping costs to skyrocket... ![]() Agreed, there is no obvious reason for the missing quarter lights apart from careless toolmaking. Here's an early 1970s' magazine clipping showing the aforementioned Vogt Caravan with Rekord C parts. Crayford-vibes coming up in 3-2-1 seconds - kaboom! ![]() "Vogt Autotechnik in Bad Neuenahr now supplies the largest and most expensive station wagon of German production based on the Opel Admiral/ Diplomat. The conversion costs around 5.000 DM, so the total price for the Admiral station wagon shown is around 20.000 DM, for the Diplomat V8 station wagon just under 30.000 DM. A payload of 600 kg is permitted for the four-door station wagon with tailgate. Vogt has already converted a special series of Admiral station wagons - sold through Opel dealers." |
◊ 2022-12-11 23:15 |
Thanks for the offer - I'm pursuing a UK source and we've got postal strikes causing chaos, so not at the moment. But good to have in reserve in case other efforts dry up. Any Brit stuff you're looking for? PM me if there's anything. |