Rare Oddity: 1956 Gebruder Verga Coupe
To paraphrase Sir Winston Churchill speaking of the Soviet Union in 1939, here we have a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside of an enigma. This car – for sale on The Samba – is a Volkswagen-based coupé built by Carrozzeria Verga in 1956. Verga was a coachbuilder founded in Switzerland in 1830, building horse-drawn carriages and wagons. Sketchy information declares that the company became a “skilled automotive coachbuilder” in the mid-1900s, ditching wood and iron for sheet metal. If so, I’d like to see another thing or two the company built, because none of my research turned up a single example of Verga’s work – except this VW-based oddity. In any event, this car was reportedly conceived by Enrico Verga from a sketch, but there’s some dispute as to whether the original car was a roadster or a coupé with a weirdly inconvenient bubble-top that required lifting the doors and roof together in order to gain entry. The car was further altered with special compartments and chassis reinforcement to smuggle contraband car parts, though it proved a poor criminal as it was confiscated by French police in 1959 and stored until recently. But how did the car acquire its gull-wing configuration? The seller subscribes to the idea that the gullwing is an alteration of the awkward coupé, a pursuit that did not manage to make the contraption any less awkward. The price is not listed, and the car is located in Buchrain, Switzerland. Thanks to Scott L. for this superior tip!
The car is described as being in #4 condition – ie, fair. This video shows it running, in traffic no less, apparently on its way to a concours in 2019. (Bonus points for anyone who can identify the red car next to it in the static display at about minute 1.39. Hint, it is not a Sabra and it is not a Matra.) The rear-mounted engine installed by Verga was a Volkswagen 1200 cc flat-four. The rest of the mechanicals follow suit. The car comes with an additional 1955 chassis with a drivetrain and front suspension.
The interior is very VW – with a paucity of creature comforts and just one gauge. The seating aspect is more race car than Beetle, however. The car has a spare in its trunk along with the gas tank and fuse box. I’m guessing the interior color is a holdover from the original exterior color. The seller indicates that some documents are with the car.
The bodywork is aluminum, and the shape is very “Disco Volante”, a car that Alfa launched in 1952. The tail lights appear to be from a Fiat 1100. Looks like the windows are tinted, which I find odd, but hey, everything about this car is odd. And on that note, it is time to consider price. What does one pay for an aluminum one-off albeit perhaps altered from “stock”? The prosaic VW basis and the obscurity of the brothers Verga aren’t going to help the price here, but the stories might. What do you think?
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Comments
Apparently the Roswell incident had more influence on some than others. I’ve never seen or can find any images of a VW motor with the intake behind the fan. I can’t imagine who this might have appealed to then. Today, with some of the fruitcakes I live around, this would fit right in.
It’s a shame the photo doesn’t show more of the custom intake – that was a ‘clever’ solution to addressing the low deck lid clearance. I’ve owned three early ’60s Beetles and a ’71 ‘bus, but don’t know my engine details well enough to tell if this is a 1200, 1300 or 1500. Based on the generator vs. alternator, I do think it’s an earlier mill.
WOW! Talk about a minimalist instrument panel; I guess the “unique” exterior was compensation!!
Same instrumentation you’d find in any 1960s VW Beetle – actually, I see a couple extra switches, in fact.
Funny how the headlights are splayed outward.
That’s the Rodney Dangerfield look.
They look to have been installed in the exact same orientation as in a T1 VW bus.
A lot of South Americans might get a good laugh out of the name of this car. The name Verga is appropriate for this car.
Especially in Mexico.!! A la verga con el Verga….
To the moon… Alice!
That, my friend is the prettiest damn vehicle I have ever seen, and I am 65 years old. If it did not cost an arm & a leg I would buy it today.
Looks better going in reverse.
This seems like something Geoff Hacker would love to own
I think Geoff has better taste Michelle, however, he does go for some pretty funny auto’s so maybe who knows?
It does have a way of drawing you in I must say, sort of space ship sport about with next week throttle response lol!
Nein.
A shockingly ugly “penis” IMHO.
Must be a whopping 45 hp and turn the 1/4 mile in at least 3 minutes flat. These are Russian Muscle Cars…
Howard A. you’re right, someone is fixated on Roswell.
Red car is either a Dodge Daytona/Chrysler Laser of the Turbo era
This is one odd duck of a car and sometimes that’s enough :)
Car in background is Porsche 928
Designer, watched too many episodes of “ Space Patrol”!
I used to see a car like this every Saturday morning….. on the Jetsons. I loved it then and now
Perhaps the rear windows are tinted to reduce the greenhouse effect.
It probably got very hot in that wee cabin.
“Verga” is colombiano slang for “erection.” Just thought I’d mention that.
It made you look, didn’t it? Why tinted windows?…. because otherwise you are sitting in a greenhouse! This might be the rarest find ever on BF. Thanks for the write-up Michelle… keep up the good work! Honestly this is a simple to maintain vehicle that would get attention at parades and car shows everywhere.
I just called my local Advanced Auto Parts store. They said they have everything in stock.
Rock Auto probably does have all the VW parts that are on it. It wouldn’t take that much effort to bracket the correct vintage. Experimental aircraft people form polycarbonate windows like that all the time. I appreciate your humor, but for real.. this would be dirt cheap to maintain. There just isn’t much there to have to deal with.
@JMB#7- Point taken. You would certainly have the only one at Cars and Coffee. (машины и кофе
mashiny i kofe)
Thanks but I already got one.
This Verga probably is better than a Vega.
The red car next to it has VW wheels and hubcaps so is probably another VW-based device.
You are close.
Finally a split window I can afford? Actually how much is it? I see a little amphibicar , corvette, George Jetson, and inspector Klusoes car.
Good job, never have I seen this
Someone from Lane Automotive Museum in Nashville should buy this to add to their collection, and what a collection it is!
The Swiss are accomplished bankers, tool makers, and chocolatiers.
Coach builders? Maybe not their wheelhouse.
The greatest, most famous of all coachbuilders, who designed over 800 car bodies for Alvis, Aston Martin, Bugatti, Duesenberg, Lagonda, Packard, Rolls Royce etc. was Hermann Graber of SWITZERLAND.
Googled Graber. (ha)
You’re spot on, Solo.
Salute.
Its a funny little car got Jetsons written all over it
The original red and silver is much more attractive.
As is the roadster variation.
Perhaps the inspiration for the Corvette split rear window!!
The red car looks to me like it might be a VW kit car, possibly made by Karma out of the UK. The tail lights are about the same as theirs but the nose is a bit different on the one I found.
Is the red car a version of the Bonnet Djet?
Nice try, but no…. David Nieuwenhuis got the answer on the dot!
The red car next to it is a Sbarro Filipinetti 2.
Absolutely correct! And looking quite different from Filipinetti 1.
I’d buy that for a dollar………………………but not a cent more.
Looks like it was designed for the TV series – Twilight Zone,
Old Iron Kurt
Having owned a couple of Tatra cars, I suspect the rear windows and the center metal support was taken from a Tatra T-603. Can’t know for sure without measuring them, but they look like an exact match, however they were installed in a more upright manner [in the Tatra they are more horizontal].