Wehrlin

Thanks very much to Urs Hauenstein of Oberflachs Switzerland, a collector of all things Swiss 500, for correcting our information below. According to Urs, R.W. Werhlin was, in deed, a pioneer of the Swiss 500 movement...but did NOT build the car pictured below. The car is, in fact, the Keller Special. In Urs words:

I had the opportunity to talk to Rolf Wehrlin about "his" car which is listed in several British 500 publications. He was quite amused and explained to me that he never built a F3 car and how it came to this mistake. At the start of the 500 movement in Switzerland, there was a group of enthusiasts who formed the "500er Club" of Switzerland. They tried and managed to get information from Britain, and the only one who was able to speak and write in the English language was Rolf Wehrlin. So he became sort of the "Foreign Language Secretary" of the club, and all correspondance went over his desk. He also sent information about the first Swiss 500, the Keller Special, and someone in Britain took him for the buider. If you compare the pictures of the Keller Special with those of the so-called Wehrlin car, you will find out that they show the same car.

Click here to learn more about the Keller Special.

R.W. Wehrlin was a pioneer of the 500 movement in Switzerland and built his car as early as 1948 following extensive communication with the 500 Club.

The Wehrlin had a front mounted JAP engine in a Fiat 500 chassis with bodywork that resembled a Grand Prix Alta.

Sadly, we have no record of Mr Wehlrin's track record with the car.

If anyone has any more details, please get in touch.