Hamburg 1948 vehicle ID

[Hair Bear]

I think these post war archives are fascinating and found this film. Question is, around 4:50 to 4:55 there's a glimpse of what looks to my warped view of the world like the top of a Land Rover. Obviously isn't - so what could it be?

 

[Rootes75]

Its not a home made growing/potting shed is it?

[Hair Bear]

Hadn't thought of that!

It's weird how your brain can see what it wants to see - in this case a vehicle.

[B series]

Weird indeed, that looks so much like a Land Rover series II  88" with truck cab, tropical roof,  and canvas back, even the vents under the windscreen look to be there!  It cannot be a Land Rover, so I think it must be a shed or similar made up using  a old vehicle windscreen,  and maybe truck body hoops and canvas.  

Really amazing film quality,  which got me thinking maybe somebody has digitally added a Land Rover into the film image just to get us talking......

 

 

[CMP-Phil]

Another explanation is that the date on the film is wrong.  Take a look at the other vehicles in the film see if you can date them.  There seem to be lot of private vehicle also remember when Landrover was first built  in 1948.  Also custom body work on Jeeps at the end of the war were common to get a more all weather vehicle.

Just some thoughts

 

[Zuffen]

Too many VW Beetles for 1948.

Production was miniscule for a few years after the war but they are quite common in the footage.

[No Signals]

Even if the film was mis-dated by a few years, the 'Land Rover' looks to be in a relatively sorry state - lacking a windscreen wiper, tucked in behind some old hoops etc, a sheet of metal or wood above the cab area, I can't believe such a new expensive ( for Germany) vehicle would have been allowed to get in to such a state so quickly. 

[Rootes75]

Apparently, by 1946 there were approx. 1000 Type 1 Beetles being produced each month. So I would presume by 1948 it would be possible to see a few of them on the roads of major cities?

[earlymb]

Here's a screenshot:

 

[utt61]

I'm not sure what it is but I don't think the proportions are right for any Land-Rover vehicle. It certainly looks like a similar vehicle of some kind though.

[Ex-boy]

Seems to me very unlikely to be Landrover, partly because the rake of the windscreen is more noticeable, let alone it’s rarity (or existence) at that time.

Edited Sunday at 12:24 PM by Ex-boy
Missed word

[B series]

Is that a circular roof hatch I can see over the passenger side (if LHD)?  It looks like a vehicle to me, but taking the ground level into consideration, the vehicle looks to low to have wheels / axles if the ground is level to were the vehicle is parked.

Is that a wiper arm/blade on drivers side mounted on the top of the windshield frame?

 

I think some type of  ex miltary small truck body being used as a shed.

[10FM68]

5 hours ago, utt61 said:

I'm not sure what it is but I don't think the proportions are right for any Land-Rover vehicle. It certainly looks like a similar vehicle of some kind though.

Exactly, I think we're letting our imaginations run away with us here.  There is no reason at all to doubt the age of the film: everything is right for 1948.  There is no proof that what  seems to be a windscreen is even glass and the dimensions are certainly not correct for a Land Rover, that isn't a windscreen wiper but a bit of trim of some sort detached from the rest above it.  The 'vent panel' is certainly not Land Rover and that isn't a tropical roof but, probably a bit of old tarpaulin.  The construction may well be based on an old vehicle, but as others have said, it is some sort of shed - either for the adjacent vegetable garden or, worse, given the destitution of so many in Hamburg at that time and as evidenced by people emerging from the former cellars of their homes the rest having been destroyed, even somewhere to sleep.  The presence of old bits of pipe, probably old gas/water pipe, but possibly tilt hoops, suggest other attempts at making a shelter nearby.  And, certainly there aren't too many Beetles for 1948 in a major, comparatively wealthy, city port like Hamburg.

[John F]

Yep, and the "windscreen" appears to be propped up on bricks.

[LARD]

Could it be a Stoewer R180 with a slightly different roof?    This one is at the Weal Foundation...