1958 VW Alken D2 Roadster

[capngrog]

I'd never heard of an Alken before encountering this one for sale on the Hemmings web site this morning.  While certainly (in my opinion) a good looking car and apparently well-built and detailed, I think the asking price of $84,000 for what is essentially a VW-based kit car is quite high.  My thoughts are that an asking price of half that figure ($42,000) would also be too high.  But of course, I could be missing something here, and this car could be something highly desirable from a collector's standpoint.  Are there many Alken enthusiasts/fans out there?

 

 

The link to the Hemmings article:  https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/volkswagen/unspecified/2193566.html?refer=news

 

While I'm not in the market, price or otherwise, for an Alken, I think it's a really nice looking car and would appreciate other's comments on it.  Has anyone even heard of an Alken before?

 

Cheers,

Grog

 

[keiser31]

First I have heard of them.

[Fleek]

https://www.undiscoveredclassics.com/fiberglass-car-marques/alken/the-alken-d2-one-of-the-first-vw-fiberglass-bodied-sports-cars-youve-never-seendrivenowned-anything-like-this-1958/

[Pfeil]

2 hours ago, capngrog said:

I'd never heard of an Alken before encountering this one for sale on the Hemmings web site this morning.  While certainly (in my opinion) a good looking car and apparently well-built and detailed, I think the asking price of $84,000 for what is essentially a VW-based kit car is quite high.  My thoughts are that an asking price of half that figure ($42,000) would also be too high.  But of course, I could be missing something here, and this car could be something highly desirable from a collector's standpoint.  Are there many Alken enthusiasts/fans out there?

 

 

The link to the Hemmings article:  https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/volkswagen/unspecified/2193566.html?refer=news

 

While I'm not in the market, price or otherwise, for an Alken, I think it's a really nice looking car and would appreciate other's comments on it.  Has anyone even heard of an Alken before?

 

Cheers,

Grog

 

Consider this; The Porsche replica Speedsters and Spyders, can go for as much as 40K and as little as 25K on the Speedster, however try to buy either that has a Porsche engine, especially a twin cam engine and you can take that 48K and at least double it or triple it.

 The other types like the Puma, Bianco,  Kelmark GT, Bradly GT, are way down there in price below 10K and most below 5K, especially the MG, Bugatti types .

 

 Now lets look at the Bill Rutan Special- Hill climb special. This car has a 1945 Beetle backbone. Bill started with a 1945 VW and a 1958 Porsche Porsche 4-cam engine. He designed the frame roll cage, rear suspension, turned the engine around with the transaxle trailing for better weight distribution and replaced the  twin distributors with an 8 cylinder distributor.  

The have been many debates on this forum ( the last one was in the general section which was moved to the modified BUICK section)  about the engine being the hallmark of the brand. In other words buy a 32 Ford and install a 350 Chevy and what do you have? another Ford turned into a Chevy.

This Rutan car even though it started out as a 1945 Beetle has a 4 cam Porsche engine. I believe Wayne Carini owned or sold the car and called it the Porsche Hill Climb Special. What makes the car so special and worth so much money? Porsche 4 Cam Engine. Everyone remember the car?;

 

 

This Alkin also has a VW chassis and a Porsche drivetrain. So think about it. Do we call it a kit car, a VW, or a Porsche? The car below certainly looks like a cobbled up concoction and look what it sold for. It's saving grace is that it won the 1961 Climb to the Clouds. The car ran the gravel and dirt mountain course in a record time, beating Carroll Shelby's record time set in 1956 in a Ferrari 375 Formula One car.

Edited November 25, 2018 by Pfeil (see edit history)

[1912Staver]

Even if Alkin had some sort in period racing history I doubt anyone would pay $84,000.00 for one.  The VW  connection might appeal to the uber hardcore VW collector but for that sort of money you are generally talking about a much more significant car. 

 

Greg in Canada

[capngrog]

1 hour ago, Pfeil said:

Consider this; The Porsche replica Speedsters and Spyders, can go for as much as 40K and as little as 25K on the Speedster, however try to buy either that has a Porsche engine, especially a twin cam engine and you can take that 48K and at least double it or triple it.

 

 

While the Hemmings ad for the Alken infers that the engine is of Porsche lineage, it doesn't mention that it is a 4 cam Carrera engine; consequently, I assume (dangerous to do) that the Porsche engine is the more conventional 1.6L pushrod engine.  There are currently several 1.6L Porsche engines for sale on ebay, ranging in price from around $7k to around $10k with one asking  $14k.  Standard 1.6 VW air-cooled engines go for about half that, so certainly a Porsche engine would enhance the value of the advertised Alken, but not by all that much ... in my opinion.

 

Cheers,

Grog

[Pfeil]

3 hours ago, 1912Staver said:

Even if Alkin had some sort in period racing history I doubt anyone would pay $84,000.00 for one.  The VW  connection might appeal to the uber hardcore VW collector but for that sort of money you are generally talking about a much more significant car. 

 

Greg in Canada

Greg, It's the Porsche connection with that 1958 1.5 L engine and transaxle.

[1912Staver]

I am by no means a P car expert however that is most definitely not a 4 cam engine in the Alkin. As Capngrog points out none of the air cooled pushrod engines from 1958 will boost the value by all that much. A 356 engine would be interesting but  not to the price point of this car.

I suspect it would take a air cooled Devin to even come close to this asking price.

Greg

Edited November 26, 2018 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[kghia]

Hi

 

A friend pointed me to this conversion where you expressed some questions. 

 

The Alken is my car.  The engine is a 1600N.   I would guess a 4 cam Carrara motor is 150k plus alone.  

 

There were several car companies that created bodies in the 50s using the new technology of fiberglass.   Forgotten Fiberglass is the best resource of data on the variety of cars designed.   The Alken was one of these.  

 

I have a copy of the original patent of the Alken.  I worked with VolksWorld Magazine from Europe to create an 8 page spread on the car and its history in their Nov 2018 issues with many more details.   My Alken was used for the Nov 1958 R&T road test on the Alken (60 years to the month it was back in print). 

 

Thanks for the interest

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2018 by kghia
Add picture (see edit history)

[mike6024]

Here's a link to a bunch of pictures from 1958 - http://purl.stanford.edu/nn936qw6336

 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2018 by mike6024 (see edit history)

[kghia]

Thank you!

 

I have researched this car for 35 years and you have provided some documents I have never seen

 

Alan and Kennth White formed the Alken corporation.  Alken came rom joining their names!

 

Just fantastic history and many photos there are of my exact car. 

[Joe in Canada]

Has the lines of a TR6 I think. I think I would buy a TR6 instead and let the Alken become a barn find in the chicken coup. 

[Spinneyhill]

I like the top right of the first image at the Stanford link. The expenses are at top right of the page. Lunch was > twice the cost of the fuel!

 

The car might have run better if the air intake wasn't a bit flat.

Edited November 28, 2018 by Spinneyhill (see edit history)

[1912Staver]

Without a doubt it is a very nice example of an unusual car.  Hopefully you can find a new owner who will appreciate it as much as you obviously have during your ownership.

 I am curious about what led you into ownership of the Alkin.  Was it a car you were familiar with due to the R and T coverage back when they were new ? Or was it perhaps a car that you chanced upon and became involved with ? I have a couple of quirky, very low production cars myself.  In my case they were cars I chanced upon and fit into my life. They are rare enough that you couldn't realistically decide to acquire one and expect to find one. 

Greg

[kghia]

I was always a VW fan growing up because our family had them.  I read a lot and came across the Alken in the R&T article and some books.  I had never seen one so I was always on the lookout.  I came across 4 in total.  I just liked the lines and wanted to save one as a testament to American vision, design and risking to be different.  The articles talk of investing $50k.  Maybe 20 bodies were made?  Too expensive for the time but Fiberglass was new and an extension of early coach work type constuction, but with new materials. 

[kghia]

These photos are from another photo shoot for motortrend on Getty Images.   I talked with the original photographer and writer sitting in the car.  These are photos of my actual car.  

 

https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/alken-d-2?sort=mostpopular&mediatype=photography&phrase=alken d 2

[kghia]

Another example.  This sister car built with mine at the same is now in Ireland being restored.  Both cars were coveted to electric cars in 1959 by the NicLSilver battery company.. 

[carfanatic]

@mike6024 ,that is a great link with lots of interesting information & photos , thanks for sharing.

Good to know that John MacNamara ,  chief engineer & general manager at Alken , was born in Ireland !!

 

For a fiberglass body ,it was of good quality & very highly developed when compared to typical period fiberglass bodies from other sources. I guess people weren't prepared to pay for such quality.

 

The Hemmings car has had a very  thorough restoration & I suspect if you were to pay someone to do all the work + purchase cost of project car & parts ,you could end up near the asking price or more !

 

The " Irish " car in the last photo still has the blue paint that Alken applied in 1958 & "Nic L Silver Electric car , Experimental " signwriting applied in 1959. It has windup windows , external handles , a removable hardtop & may well have the only surviving pair of original Alken fiberglass seats !

It was one of the Alken demonstrator / promotional cars.

 

Alken apparently had a stand at the 31st Los Angeles County Fair at Pomona from Sept 12 - 28 ,1958.

There must be some photos out there from the LA fair & from other promotions that Alken did , how to find them though ?!

 

The promotion cars didn't hang around too long , as by early 1959 , it seems both the red & blue Alkens had been sold to Nic L Silver battery company for conversion to electric .

The  blue ( Irish ) car was featured in Jan 1960 Sports Car Illustrated magazine ,where they test drove it in its Nic L Silver electric form ! 

Also a couple of pages in a 1960 Trend Book .

There must also be more photos out there of when Nic L SIlver owned the cars , will just have to be patient !