The company Bellmann & Co (BELCO) was founded in 1922 in Berlin, Germany by mr. Bellmann and in later years also opened a subsidiary in Saarland (Germany). In 1945 the company moved to Ansbach, Germany, and produced a wide range of metal, wooden and synthetic resin products. It is unknown whether they existed pre-war already. They produced pens, combs, simple household appliances, but also toys. The toys were in most cases marketed and sold by other firms. The company initially used different materials for their products: Bakelite, plastic, metal, Polystyrol, etc. From the mid 1950s onwards, they mainly produced plastic products. The company ceased to exist in 1977.
Plastic body with solid windows and good details of front and rear hood, door seams and rear split window with air louvers. Two chassis variations are known. The first, most common, chassis molded in plastic, has a crisscross pattern, plastic wheels and rear bumper with a tow hook. This VW first appeared in a construction set from Germany (1950s) and later produced in England (1960s). In the 1960s it was offered on a long cardboard stock with all parts blister packed in several variations. It also came in a 20cm by 15cm unmarked cardboard box with inlay, possibly mainly sold in Belgium. The contents of this box were similar to the early BELCO box, with the exception that it contained an additional chassis and set of wheels. It made it possible to build both the VW split beetle as well as the Tempo Matador at the same time. These BELLMANN toys were marketed and branded by various importers in different countries, like CONSTANT (see the picture with the blister), HSW, PRESTOFA plastikfabrik AS in Oslo, Norway (existed from 1949 til 1959) and other yet unknown importers.
The second chassis variation (see the picture with 4 different angles of the red split) was most probably manufactured by an unknown manufacturer using the original mold: the body was identical, but with narrower, smooth wheels and a simpler chassis without engine. This variation is easily recognized as all examples of this variation have colorful stickers on top of the car and on both sides of the car.
