Fritz Fahrkraft.
Who we are.
Our Story
Fritz Fahrkraft GmbH was born from the idea that knowledge must be available where it is needed.
Our story begins with a simple problem: Traditionally, knowledge is seen as an advantage that needs to be protected. As a result, it often isn’t available to those who need it most – you, the mechanics and professionals at the lift.
We know it from our previous lives as employees: The phone would ring again and again, and kind people would ask for help with their projects. Unfortunately, we could only offer advice and not really provide comprehensive assistance because there was simply no time, and the focus was on selling our own products. Of course, the community helps itself with forums, meetups, and similar platforms, but let's be honest, which forum can you really trust for very specific questions, and who wants to keep hearing that, if you have no clue, you should just go to the workshop? We got tired of that and decided to offer an alternative.
At Fritz Fahrkraft, knowledge is at the heart of everything we do. We share our knowledge openly and without limits. In both professional and personal settings, we have long been a go-to source, supporting engine and entire restoration and modification projects with the necessary information or calculations. Together, we’ve already found many solutions, even for unconventional challenges. We are clear: this is where we can enrich the scene.
Martin Mette, Founder
"My heart has always beaten for cars. Like many boys, I had a large collection of various 'Matchbox' cars in my childhood room. Even then, the first tuning experiments began: wheels were swapped from one car to another, and cars were repainted. Back then, it was all done with a glue stick and markers.
Several Lego and Revell model kits later, at the age of 16, the next level of my passion was ignited. The first real car, in full 1:1 scale, a Manta B, rolled onto the driveway. It found its use after a slight "performance" boost off-road, participating in car-ring rallies up in the northern part of the country. My first VW came when I was 18, shortly after I got my driver's license: a Kawasaki green T3 bus. This was converted into a party vehicle, complete with a disco ball, a large sound system, and a rooftop terrace. Of course, it also had wide wheels and the necessary modifications to the wheel arches and sliding door. A perfect car to drive to school during the week and a popular hangout spot in front of the club for "pre-drinking" on weekends. I've stayed loyal to VW buses ever since. While I was still driving the green T3 during my apprenticeship, I switched to a T4 during my studies in social economics. This was sold when I went to Ireland for my Master's degree in International Entrepreneurship Management. The connection to the air-cooled scene was rekindled upon returning to Germany with the purchase and restoration of a 1302 Beetle.
The short journey to Bargteheide brought me into contact with my future employer, Custom & Speed Parts, as a job advertisement on Facebook came just at the right time. Initially working in sales, I took over the production management at CSP Products GmbH after six months. I was able to continuously improve the company by optimizing processes and workflows, establishing connections with new suppliers, and hiring new employees.
This is also where I met my current business partner, Maximilian. Together, we worked on many exciting projects for our employer and had the opportunity to accompany the development of new products from the initial idea to series production. While Maximilian led the technical development of these products, my focus was on their feasibility from an economic standpoint, the implementation in production, and the organization of all other involved departments, from management and marketing to individual employees.
A 1303 Streaker has been my vehicle for a long time, and today, it is used by us in Baja-style as a car for long-distance rallies across Europe. My wife and I have covered nearly 50,000 rally kilometers in the last 8 years with this car, creating many wonderful memories along the way.
During the restoration and the relatively tough use of the vehicle, I had to discover many of the downsides of the hobby. Unfortunately, many parts, even from well-known manufacturers, don't fit without extensive modifications or fail after a short period of time. The most impressive experience was certainly the wear of the tie rod ends, which had been newly installed before the rally and failed in Budapest, causing the goal of driving the Beetle over the Romanian Transfăgărășan to seem increasingly out of reach. Fortunately, there is also a vibrant air-cooled scene in Hungary, and some locals quickly came to our aid.
After 10 years of collaboration and countless rally kilometers driven together, Maximilian and I decided it was time to open a new chapter and bring our own ideas to life. In 2023, we founded the company Fritz Fahrkraft with the vision of enabling every enthusiast in our air-cooled VW scene to enjoy frustration-free tinkering by providing the knowledge they need."
Maximilian Möller, Founder
"At the age of 8, I got my first moped, a Yamaha RD50. After quickly getting the hang of riding it, I of course took it apart right away. Unfortunately, the reassembly didn’t go as well and left me a bit disheartened. No matter how much I wanted to, it just wouldn’t start. It didn’t take long for me to realize: I was missing some information about how everything actually worked with such an engine. What I found in old repair manuals on the topic was not only new and totally fascinating, but it also set the course for my future career... and after many attempts, it even made my beloved RD50 start making noise again 😊.
Even while still in school, I started working on air-cooled vehicles. So, it was a great fit when I began a part-time job at a well-known company from Bargteheide, namely Custom & Speed Parts, at the age of 16, where I could continue to immerse myself in the field. I had the opportunity to dive deep into various welding techniques, conventional turning and milling, and many other topics that were incredibly exciting for me. Every day after school, I would head to the production facility to assemble and package the newly introduced CSP Products at the time.
Just in time for my 18th birthday, I had finished restoring my first VW 1200 from 1984. While it was far from original, it was completely welded, painted, and already fitted with VVA, ventilated disc brakes, and a Supercomp exhaust system adapted for the 1200 model. What a great first car that I drove everywhere for years, getting familiar with the typical Beetle quirks, especially in the winter.
Through my work, now at CSP Entwicklung und Verwaltung GmbH, alongside my studies in vehicle engineering, I was able to finance my first bus, a 1976 T2b with a pop-top. After a brief stint at Volkswagen Motorsport in Hanover, I took over the management of the newly founded Research and Development department at CSP in Bargteheide in 2017. There, I was able to fully dedicate myself, along with a small team, to the development of innovative products for air-cooled engines and conduct intensive research on the subject.
Alongside my work, I restored various T2 buses over the years, including the aforementioned pop-top, as well as two high-roof buses and a double-cab. In 2018, I set off on my first long-distance rally across the Balkans with the double-cab, alongside Martin in his Beetle. 7,500 km of full throttle in a freshly restored and completely rebuilt vehicle just days before. The insights gained from that rally immediately flowed into modifications for the engine, transmission, and suspension, which were soon tested on the next long-distance rally. A run like this, where the vehicle is pushed to its limits for 10-12 hours a day, over snowy mountain passes at freezing temperatures and, just days later, across the desert at +42°C, quickly reveals where there are weaknesses in the technology. It's the perfect testing ground to push products to the limit. By now, the double-cab has taken me to 25 countries and has become a proven long-distance vehicle.
After numerous successfully completed projects and a long journey at CSP, it was time for a new challenge in 2023. After having spent 10 years working together with my colleague Martin, we founded Fritz Fahrkraft GmbH to not only drive the scene forward with refined products but also through targeted knowledge transfer."
