No other journalist in the world has seen this amazing collection in the flesh!
If you are a Volkswagen air-cool enthusiasts or an air-cool Volkswagen owner, you need to read further and take serious note of this article. Once this COVID-19 pandemic is over for good and the world goes back to being normal with crowded airports and long lines at the airport immigrant, make a note to buy yourself a plane ticket to Tokyo, Japan.
Get a hotel or accommodation close by the Flat-4 store in Tokyo which is located at: 1 Chome-1-5 Takaban, Meguro City, Tokyo 152-0004, Japan. You need to visit this place more than once on your trip and there will be a good chance that you will be spending a lot of money buying merchandise or parts for your air-cool VW. This part we covered some months ago in a short article in DSF.my about their parts and engine shop and also their used vehicle section on the ground floor with some tasty Beetles and also the much sought after Karmann Ghia.
Then there is special underground museum which belongs to the owner of Flat-4 and it is off limits to visitors. You will need a very special permission slip from the owner to get access just like we did, thanks to Mr. Asep from Art Of Speedwho was with us for this very privileged visit.
With the store manager guiding us, we proceeded to the secret basement where the ‘gems’ were sitting in a retro looking room. The first car that caught our attention was the 1949 VW Beetle cabriolet. Looking like it just left the factory floor and ready for its first ever owner, this white walled tyred pristine condition black and maroon car was simply gorgeous parked right next to a very duplicate sibling in black colour.
Opposite the twins were two pre war Beetles. A 1943 KdF Type-82e in flat beige for the German Army North African desert assault and a flat black 1946 version for city driving.
Surprised to see the 1958 VW Lawrence Coupe as we have never seen one in the metal and in showroom condition. This car must be worth more than an air-cooled 911 SC today.
Without taking a calculator to estimate we were easily in the presence of RM4-5 million worth of classic showroom conditions air cooled rare and desirable Volkswagens that should be shared with the world. We have been to the Volkswagen AutoMuseum in Wolfsburg where the selection is definitely more inviting and wider but that is the manufacturers collection. This here is a private collector in Tokyo having this amazing small but very beautiful collection in a very inviting room.
