
Arnold GmbH & Co KG was founded in 1906 by Karl Arnold in Nürnberg, Germany. They did quite well and by 1940, they had 4 company locations. Only the location in Mülhouse survived the war and from November 1945, production slowly was resumed from this location. Later the other locations were rebuild. In 1952, Arnold was the first in Germany to produce hard plastic bodies for their toy cars. This was the start of a very prosperous era for plastic toys and the beginning of the end for tin plate toys. As from 1960, Arnold concentrated themselves mainly on production of trains (N-size) and accessories for trains.
A somewhat crude toy VW made with a soft plastic body with cut out windows. Body details of front and rear hoods, door seams, taillights, license plate light. Tin metal chassis (cross shaped) with a friction or key wound motor, rubber tires. Chassis attached to the body with 4 plastic rivets. No bumpers or interior. Just to note: ARNOLD also made a similar Split Window VW version. Close examination shows that the center split bar was not just taken out to make an oval window. The mold mark area around the oval window is perfectly smooth with no sign of alterations, although many toys found are clearly missing the center bar. Possibly removed by the buyers or removed by Arnold to get rid of left over split VW stock?