Since 1870, the sheet metal processing company of the Neumann family has existed in the village of Spremburg. Back in 1950, Spremburg belonged to the former GDR (East Germany). Fragments of VW and Mercedes parts filled the factory yard, as well as other components that dated back to the 1930s. Among them was also a VW Kubelwagen, built in 1943. Wilhelm Neumann had collected it as scrap in 1947 and brought it to the factory premises. The chassis and the axles of exactly this car served as the basis for a unique passenger car in 1955.

Wilhelm Neumann’s two sons, 20-year-old Erhard and his 23-year-old brother Manfred, dreamed of making their own cars. The design was set by Erhard Neumann, who put his idea on paper and then initially moulded the future vehicle in scale 1:10. He spent hundreds of hours on this preparatory work until everything met his expectations. After the two brothers were satisfied with the design, it was time to make the individual parts in their original sizes from sheet metal. A special feature was the extraordinary rear window, which was formed as a extra piece of Plexiglas.

The technology of Neumann’s Volkswagen was adapted from the existing individual parts. The steering column, for example, was once manufactured at the Wolfsburg plant. Rear lights, indicators, and headlights were originally designed for a 311 Wartburg, and finally a 30 hp-strong VW engine with transmission served as rear-wheel drive. After the sheet metal parts of the car were covered with black nitro lacquer, the nameless design weighed exactly 880 kg. With the East German registration ZF 47-11, the black-painted passenger car surprised several in communist East Germany.