Eugen Kolb

Eugen Kolb began his career apprenticed to coachbuilder Reutter in 1953. He recalls that besides 356s, in the early Fifties they were also assembling Studebakers at Zuffenhausen. “We were organised in small groups and each one had its specific task – doors, bonnets, wings etc. What I remember is that we absolutely couldn’t afford to waste material.” He worked in particular on smoothing the 356 Cabriolet to create the 356 Speedster, notable for its lowered windscreen. Keen to improve himself, in 1961 Kolb took a year off to study at Kaiserslautern where he became a certified coachwork master craftsman. “It was a specialist college partly funded by the motor industry. At that time there were only two such schools in Germany.”

When he returned