JNF was founded in 1920 by Joseph Neuhierl in Fürth, Germany. The Company name, JNF, is formed out of the first letters of his name and the town of Fürth. In WWII, the company had to produce for warfare, like many other toy companies. In 1945, the US Army therefore confiscated all production facilities. Production at the JNF facility started again in 1947.
Elongated shape tin plate body with cut out windows and a detailed lithograph interior depicting the Split Window Volkswagen of the KdF era. The remote control cable version turned the front wheels and came in a box with road 26 signs to set up a driving course. The remote control cable was sometimes located in the left and sometimes in the right rear decklid. The set originally sold for 1.95 Reichsmarks.
The tin plate chassis included a clockwerk motor that had a lever to control a couple of motor speed settings and bumpers with license plate registration of “IN-35.” No chassis stamping on this KdF era version. Variations included different types of metal wheels, rubber wheels, “FOREIGN” or "GERMANY" printed on the interior and different cable access in the rear deck lid.
The standard version had manual steering and came in a smaller box with only the car and key.
The NEUHIERL company bought clockwerk motors, wheels, etc. for their toys from the company Paul Weiss Laufwerk Fabrik, also located in Nürnberg, Germany. Paul Weiss Laufwerk Fabrik existed from 1919 until 1969 and produced parts for tin toys as well as clockwork motors for many manufacturers. The Paul Weiss company logo was a multi-pointed star with P.W. in the star center.
