Schneewittchen

In the spring of 1975, VW presented the first Polo, which was virtually identical in design to the Audi 50 introduced in 1974. The Polo was a huge success and established itself below the equally new Golf. 180,822 units of the somewhat more upmarket Audi 50 were built by 1978, and 753,900 of the Polo I by 1981. The Derby, presented in 1977, was essentially a Polo with a notchback and a trunk that was enormous for its class. Although a good 300,000 units of the Derby I were built by 1981, it never really received much public attention. With brief interruptions, a notchback version of the Polo existed until 2008, which was also mostly sold as the Derby, but even so, the car somehow never seemed to be on anyone’s radar. Therefore, the small sedan plays a rather wallflower role even in the classic car sector, and this is precisely what makes the car rare and exciting these days. Many people immediately remember the Derby when they see one and often wonder at the same moment when they last saw one. The attention and appeal of these cars is enormous today. However, well-preserved examples are hard to come by.

This VW Derby is known through two press reports in 2021 in Autobild and Autobild-Klassik. At that time, the car had only covered a sensational 845 kilometers! The small VW was registered on April 16, 1981, to a gentleman in South Tyrol, Italy, let’s call him Giuseppe. Giuseppe clearly intended to take good care of the Derby and preserve it for a long time, as he had it thoroughly preserved before delivery and covered the front seats with protective covers. Shortly after receiving the white Wolfsburg car with a red interior, Giuseppe apparently died unexpectedly. His widow couldn’t bring herself to use the Derby or even sell it. Her Fiat 850 still ran reliably, so the new Derby slumbered in the garage. “Snow White” slept until 2019, when a classic car collector from South Tyrol found the small sedan and “kissed it awake.” He had all the fluids replaced, the brakes overhauled, treated the engine to a careful revival, fitted with new tires, and, most importantly, replaced the timing belt. On September 16, 2021, the VW was registered to its second owner, who contacted Autobild, which published the two reports. Since then, the car has been known, and when the owner contacted our managing director, Mr. Kayser, in 2025, he too had seen the car in the press. The second owner has almost doubled the mileage to 1,560 kilometers, but he considers the car too precious to let it continue to slumber in his collection. So he contacted us and had the legendary Derby delivered to us by freight forwarder to be handed over to a collector.

We subject each vehicle to a systematic inspection – from the bodywork to the engine and electrical system. Based on this, we create three offers. You decide which offer suits you best.

Economy – €12,800
Operating and roadworthy vehicle in authentic original condition with storage damage repaired in 2019, a new timing belt, and new tires.

Standard – €14,400
Including a recent service, oil change, and a new general inspection and vehicle registration certificate.

Supreme – €14,900
Including underbody wax protection.

We would be happy to send you the details of the three offers. Or you can simply call us and we’ll explain everything to you personally.