In spite of the fact that cars are painted and plated at the factory to prevent corrosion, I have been informed that in the early 1970s, VWs were shipped to the USA completely coated in cosmoline to prevent corrosion. The cosmo was then removed during dealer prep using a kerosene scrub down. Some VWs had applied decals and accent stripes, and if the decals had been applied at the factory, the cosmo would absorb into and discolor the decals…so any decals on VW cars were always installed at and by the dealers in that time period.

Can anyone confirm this to be also true for 914s?

If so, how much of the car was coated in cosmo? Every exterior surface? The undercarriage? The suspension and engine bay? Heat exchangers/mufflers?

Were separate repair parts also delivered in cosmo?

if you (or anybody else) can explain what "cosmoline" is, I'd ask some german guys



btw - cool avatar

It looks like it is still used when shipping cars....

"Cosmoline is sprayed over the entire car, only the interior is spared, along
with a patch of windshield large enough for a driver to see out of, on any
car that is travelling any distance.

The US plant where the Z3 and X5 are misassembled sprays the cars with
Cosmoline if they are travelling west of the Mississippi river, or overseas.
I'm sure the other BMW plants do the same thing, because Cosmoline protects
the car from more than just salt water.

FWIW, the dealer gets the car already cleaned. The cars are cleaned of
Cosmoline at their point of entry to a country, or distribution point in the
case of cars shipped within the same country.

Take a look at most recent BMW's kidney grills and turn signals, you'll find
trails of Cosmoline that have been slowly running out of crevices in the
hood. No matter how well they clean these cars, they don't get it all."


Gustl, It's a rust preventative