This is a rare, original 1959 Westfalia-Werke funeral trailer that has been converted into a Porsche Race Service cargo trailer – for hauling wheels and spares parts between race tracks.
The concept of the funeral trailer is largely forgotten today, but back in the 1950s and before they were relatively common. As the name implies, they were used for funeral services, to haul coffins to the graveyard – dedicated hearses weren’t as common then as they are now.
This is an original 1959 Westfalia-Werke “Porsche” funeral trailer that has been given a full restoration, and converted into a classic Porsche racing team hauler.
Funeral trailers date back to a time before automobiles, they started out as simple horse drawn carts designed for carrying coffins. It should perhaps be no surprise that once the automobile was invented, the fundamental concept was modernized, and the funeral carts became funeral trailers.
Westfalia-Werke, better known simply as Westfalia, is a German company that became world famous in the 1950s and 1960s for their much-copied Volkswagen Westfalia Campers. They would modify the Volkswagen Type 2 Van (also known as the VW Bus, Kombi, Bulli, etc) into a camper van, typically with a double bed, couch, kitchenette, and often with a pop-top roof for improved headroom.
These Westfalia campers became wildly popular across Europe, and later in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and further afield. For many, these campers offered an affordable home-on-wheels, allowing them to explore the country – or event the Continent.
The coachbuilding facilities that allowed Westfalia to build their campers also allowed them to build many other types of specialist vehicle, including taxi cabs, commercial vans, funeral trailers, and even Unimog cabs. Westfalia was also the company that invented the modern the trailer hitch with a ball head and socket joint, replacing the earlier hook and eyelet type.
The 1959 Westfalia “Porsche” Funeral Trailer Shown Here
This is an original 1959 Westfalia-Werke funeral trailer that has been given a full restoration, and converted into a classic Porsche racing team hauler.
It’s now finished in bright red with prominent Porsche branding, and the word “Renndiesnt” which means “race service” in German. The trailer has a steel body on a ladder frame-type steel chassis, it has bubble-type wheel arches over steel wheels with chrome hubcaps.
It has a battery inside to power the lights, and it has plywood on the floor and lower walls. It has a standard European standard towbar, a jockey wheel and full-size spare wheel, and it’s listed as having no visible corrosion or damage to the bodywork.
It has a battery inside to power the lights, and it has plywood on the floor and lower walls. It has a standard European standard towbar, a jockey wheel and full-size spare wheel, and it’s listed as having no visible corrosion or damage to the bodywork.
It’s now being offered for sale out of Bretagne, France on Car & Classic and you can visit the listing here if you’d like to read more about it or place a bid.
Images courtesy of Car & Classic
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