Rometsch Cars

Before WW2 Rometsch built bodies for expensive cars, Cadillacs, Maybachs and Mercedes. The war put an end to that work and the company made field kitchens for the German army. After the war ended and VW started making the beetle, he was convinced by Johannes Beeskow to buy up some cars and rebody them, The car was shown at the Berlin auto show in 1950- they had been so busy making the car they hadn't figured out how much it should cost! They decided to match the Porsche at the next booth, 
 For awhile they were able to buy cars from VW dealers but the VW company soon ended that practice. Employees were sent out with cash to pretend to buy a car for conversion but clients also bought up new and used cars from dealers. VW decided that they should also compete with a small sports car, they built the Karmann Ghia, and the Ghia convertible styled by Beeskow. Apparently about 500 Rometsch cars of all types were built, before East Germany was walled off and the workers couldn't get to work.  Rometsch became a bodyshop and finally closed in the early 2000's. There appears to be about 30 cars that have survived,  but the wooden frames rotted and the aluminum tubing corroded. They were fragile.
Info from http://www.rometschregistry.org/the-history.htm