The Official 356Talk Forum

Hi guys,
does someone have pictures from the original pre A Hirschmann, Kathrein and Bosch aerials from 53, 54, 55?
Who builds proper reproductions?
Thanks, Olli

Hi Oliver,

try Joris Koning, he is restoring these antennas.

Joris Koning, Restoration 356A turn signal switches and manufacturing of self canceling switch for 356A cars fitted with VDM wood wheels. Antenna restorations. Fog light restorations cbcpk@planet.nl

Hi Oliver,
I was lucky enough to find an original Hirschmann pre-A antenna in fair condition. I am attaching photos of before and after restoration and of reproduction parts I made.

Hirschmann was by far the most common antenna in the pre-A period. There were at least 3 models used 1953 to 1955, pictured in order below.

The first pictured model was used in 1952 through early 1953. The 2nd was used in 1953 through at least March 1954. The final one was used in mid-1954 and later. The 2nd and 3rd version are essentially identical except for the 3rd version having black plastic where the 2nd version has chrome with the Hirschmann logo. I don't know precise date ranges. All of these are pretty rare and not easily found. I've seen one for sale in the past several years.

It is the rare restoration that has these correct.

And Joris is probably capable of producing proper reproductions. He has definitely reproduced the early ones (not pictured here). I would definitely contact him.

Beautiful work Andreas! That's identical to the original antenna on my '53 coupe. Tell us a little bit about how your restored it. How did you open the bottom to get the antenna out of the case? Drill out the spot welds? Would also be interested in the lengths of the extension tubes. Mine are broken (as you can see in my photo above).

Hi Andreas,

Beautiful work. These antennas are fun to restore.very nice.

@ James, that's indeed the right progression. The 50-52 antenne is very similar to the 52-53 differing in some subtle ways. I am currently working on a batch of the 52-53 and 50-52 antennas. Hope to have them done soon. Most machining is done.

I actually have a hybrid Hirschmann which has characteristics of the 53-56 antenna but also of the 56 and later ones. Have never been able to find more information on that antenna

Thank you.
James, in my case, I opted to drill from the bottom through the cap, lathed the inside of the tube smooth, and tapped the inside of the tube M17x1. I made a new cap with M17x1 outside thread so I can remove if needed.
The mast segments are made from metric telescoping brass tubing and spring steel. For my spare (reproduction), the bezel with the Hirschmann logo and the nut are 3D printed in brass and then chrome plated. The plastic parts and gasket are 3D printed in black plastic and TPU, respectively. I will post a drawing with the dimensions of the mast segments later.

For the antenna tubing no modern antenna uses the same diameters? Is printed brass about as strong as regular brass sheet? Or is this really a lost wax process? Your work is beautiful.

This is a fun topic. Interested to learn more about the 3D printing Andreas has done.

Below a picture of the Black tipped intermediate antenna. Also some pictures of the 50-51 antennas I made some years back and doing another run off.

I am attaching the dimensions of the mast segments as measured from my Hirschmann antenna. The original mast was bent but nowhere broken or missing parts (other than the red tip), so I believe those values are fairly accurate.
Before endeavoring the replication of the mast, I was looking for suitable "modern" alternatives but was unsuccessful. More modern antennas are either for FM reception and therefore have much shorter masts, or they use more than 3 segments. In addition, virtually all are made from polished stainless steel.
Interestingly, I did not see any serial number or "Auta" lettering on my antenna like the ones that can be seen in Joris' photos.Just the Hirschmann logo on the bezel and on the black plastic insulation tube.

Thank you guys for these interesting informations. I need a hirschmann antenna for my 50014. It was build in late 1952. So I think it has to be the antenna in James‘ first picture. Who can help?

So how do these differ from the later model Aerials on a T1