By contributing author: Adam Powers
This month, we are going to take a small jump into the world of the Hazet spare tire toolkit. There are many different variations made for several different European cars over the years. We are going to focus on VW (of course) and mainly on Type 1 boxes. I will include some information on other models at the end of the article.
A Brief History
The Hazet company was founded in 1868 by Hermann Zerver. The name Hazet itself, is a combination of the founder’s initials. The company still exists today and is in Remscheid, Germany. They are a major manufacturer of automotive and aircraft tools.
Hazet started making the toolkits around the late 1940’s, early 50’s to fit in the Spare tire of the Volkswagen Beetle. The tire size on these cars were 16” and the early toolkits were designed to match. There are easily recognizable from their later cousins, as they have the full circle mount on the back, as compared to the half circle mount on the later 15” kits.
An early advertisement for the German market.
The kit pictured below is an early 16” kit. For those who are familiar with the kits, it looks like it is missing the small Phillips screwdriver. This version never came with it! This is known as the “A” version of the early kit.
This is the “Tourist Model” which would fit in other makes, such as a Porsche 356. I will talk about all the tools on the next example. This particular kit does have a couple of inconsistencies. The large spanner wrench is a 25 and 36 mm one. It should only be a 36 mm in these early kits. The screwdrivers should have a yellow band around the end. The screwdrivers in this one are NOS. Slightly later versions as with the wrench. I have left them as they are quite nice.
In late 1952, the “B” version of the 16” kit started using the small Phillips screwdriver.
When VW downsized to a 15” wheel, Hazet obliged and produced a model to fit the bill. The second model is from 1958 but would work from Oct 1952 – Aug 1960 (and later if wanted) if need be. This one has the “half ring” on the back and is made for Volkswagen specifically.
The tools in the ’58 based kit are as follows:
- #764 Spark Plug Wrench
- #760 Channellock Pliers
- #811-6 Large Blade Screwdriver
- #561 21×36 Wrench
- #813-2 Blade Screwdriver
- #450 7×8 Wrench
- #450 10×12 Wrench
- #450 14mm Wrench
- #527 Fuel Pump T- Handle Wrench
- #1850-6 Pliers
- #814-02a Phillips Screwdriver
- #772/2 Lug Wrench
The part numbers and tool styles have varied over the years in the production run of these kits. Some rare ones even have feeler gauges as a part of them!
The fuel pump wrench would be eliminated from the kit with the discontinuation of 36 hp motors in the deluxe models in 1961.
The final kit we have here is a 1963 and later model. The easiest way to identify this is the change from the metal handle to plastic handle lug wrench.
This kit is fairly like the 1957 kit in design with a small change in wrenches, now with four instead of three:
The toolkits were still available as late as 1968/69 according to this old Hamilton, Ontario dealership brochure:
Other Kits:
Hazet made several other styles for Volkswagen models. Here are just a few examples:
The “1500” version. This is used mostly in Type 3 VW’s. It is made of plastic and is quite rare.
The “Tourist 2”. This kit was mostly used for early Porsche 911 cars
Lastly, this is a “Box” kit for Type 3:
Courtesy: The Samba.
You can still find these kits and the tools at swap meets and online. Prices can be reasonable to quite steep. Some online sellers offer reproduction kits at much lower price. The kits look to be well made. However, it is my understanding the tools are not that of the originals and not to be used as such.
A more in-depth guide to Hazet toolkits can be found here:
Here is a great Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/653460258732614
Cheers!