T34 Cabriolet Story:

When Volkswagen decided to build the new VW 1500 series they always planned to offer the Sports Coupe & Sports Cabriolet models, following the same marketing plan as the first Karmann Ghia. Carrozzeria Ghia in Turin, Italy would design the Sports Coupe body, then hand a prototype off to the Wilhelm Karmann factory in Osnabruck, Germany. Karmann would then prepare the Sports Coupe for production, work out all the details, make modifications where necessary, and also create the Sports Cabriolet model. Ghia handed-off their VW 1500 Sports Coupe prototype to Karmann in early 1960. Karmann reworked the design and had the two pre-production models available in April 1961 for press photos. Then in September 1961 both models were on public display at the Frankfurt International Auto Show. Interestingly, in 2005 a Karmann engineer confided that the Frankfurt show Cabriolet did not have a functional top frame since there was not enough time to design it before the show.

It is now believed that Karmann built 17 prototype Cabriolet models in the 1961-62 timeframe although Karmann has not released any records to prove it.  These were for initial testing & evaluation, promotional events, and press photos.  None of these were offered to the public for sale although most ended up in the hands of prominent VW dealerships in Germany as show-pieces for their dealership showrooms.

Volkswagen finally placed an order for "Nullserie" (pre-production) T34 Cabriolets in October 1962, one year after the unveiling at Frankfurt.  It is not known why there was a delay in this production, but it was common for the Cabriolet model to be released 2 years after the Coupe.  Karmann built 10 fully-functional production Cabriolets from October-December 1962 as well as 6 incomplete bodies not mated to a rolling chassis.  At the end of 1962 VW cancelled the 341 program at Karmann mainly because Karmann was not fulfulling its contracts for quantities of Beetle Cabriolets, T14 Coupes, & T14 Cabriolets.  The T34 Cabriolets were also given to prominent VW dealerships but never offered for sale to the public.

There are currently five existing authentic T34 Cabriolets remaining in the world today, all located in Germany.

Press Photographs:

It was Volkswagens tradition to unveil a new model VW at Germany's Frankfurt International Auto Show. But for the new VW-1500 series, VW was a bit unsure of the publics reaction, so they leaked press photos (above) to the magazines & newspapers to let the public see the body styles. Although it is not clear when these photos were released, it was probably in April-May 1961. There were only two press photos released of the T34 Cabriolet, one from the front and the other from overhead. If you look carefully at the front view, you'll see the Ghia shield & Karmann script are mounted to the left rear fender of the T34, unlike the Coupes on the right side. Another interesting feature of these two Cabriolets is the front nose emblem has been filled with white cloisonné, a prototype for sure.

And this press photo (above) recently surfaced in mid-2009 showing the right side (with KARMANN script & Ghia shield) which means the M341 prototypes had two sets of these emblems while the Coupes only had them on the right side. It was published in a 1961 STERN German car magazine.

Sales Brochures & Service Literature:

Here is the one page original T34 Cabrio sales brochure and the original T34 Coupe/Cabrio color options brochure from Volkswagen. Both were printed in late-1962 and widely distributed at VW dealerships during 1962-63. Interesting things: shortened rear seat, same windshield as Coupe, large rear window with aluminum trim. Also, the quarter windows are gone, and the door window glass is rounded off at the top (the easiest way to identify a real M341). These two exploded diagrams are from the rare M341 Parts List book. One clearly shows the sheetmetal modifications necessary to support the body, and the other shows the top frame & material design.

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1960's Magazine Photos:

These photos were featured in the March 1962 edition of The VW Salesman, an internal publication for the VW Canada Ltd dealer organization. The VW 1500s were introduced with a fashion show theme in Toronto. The T34 Cabrio was considered the beauty queen of the event.

This overhead diagram was featured in a 1963 edition of Motor Revue, a German automotive publication.

These photos (above) were taken at the September 1961 Frankfurt International Auto Show.

This photo is in the 1994 German T3 book titled Die grossen VW. It is the only dark-bodied light-roof 341 ever photographed and also features 1964-era beauty rings but with the early-1962 nose emblem.