Categories Car body manufacturer Germany
Germany
Alexis Kellner AG (Berlin)
Alexis Kellner AG in Berlin, founded by Consul General Alexis Kellner, existed from 1910 to 1930 before it was taken over by Drautz in Heilbronn. Please do not confuse the Alexis Kellner AG with the coachbuilding company Kellner und Söhne, which was founded by Jacques Kellner in Paris (France). In 1929, Alexis Kellner AG ran into economic difficulties due to a lack of demand during the banking crisis and filed for bankruptcy in 1930. In the same year, the name and patent rights were sold to the competitor Drauz in Heilbronn. This included the Kellner patent for the use of a leather strap in the centre above the soft top to prevent the fabric roof from bulging when a convertible was driven at speed. This patent was mainly used by Ford Germany. After the takeover, Drauz closed Alexis Kellner AG in Berlin and opened Karosserie Alexis Kellner GmbH in Heilbronn. This was only a sales company for Drauz bodies. After one or two years, Drauz then also closed the Alexis Kellner GmbH sales company in Heilbronn.
AMBI-Budd Presswerk (ABP)
In 1926, the coach-buider factory AMBI-Budd Presswerk (ABP) was founded by Arthur Müller Bauten und Industriewerken (AMBI for short) and the American Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Co. The company was based on the site of the former Rumpler-Werke in the Johannisthal district of Berlin. AMBI held 51% and Budd 49% of the company. In 1927, ABP acquired 26% of the shares in Adlerwerke in order to secure sales of the car bodies. 800 workers produced 200 car bodies per day in all-steel construction, which made mass production of limousines possible. Budd had held a patent on it since 1914 and made a fortune from it. Budd also dominated American coachbuilding at the time! Ambi-Budd supplied finished bodyshells for Adler, BMW, Citroën, Cyklon, Fiat, Ford, Hanomag, Horch, Ley, Mercedes, NSU, Stoewer, you could say for almost all the well-known European car manufacturers. By 1930 Ambi-Budd already had about 3000 employees and was the largest press shop in Europe. Curious: In 1932, ABP exhibited a flying car with helicopter technology at the Funkausstellungshalle in Berlin (air code D-11032; registration number IA-011032). The ABP factory was dismantled in 1945 and the ABP company was dissolved.
Auer Karosserie
The Christian Auer Karosseriefabrik GmbH was located in Stuttgart-Cannstatt and was one of the oldest coach building manufacturers in Germany. Auer was founded in 1895 and a major customer at the time was Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG). In 1906, according to an advertisement, Auer delivered about 1500 car bodies to Daimler. This was a considerable number for the time. Auer's philosophy was the individual production of quality car bodies according to the customer's wishes. In the twenties and thirties, Auer mainly built luxury bodies on chassis from Maybach (1929 Maybach W5 travel limousine) and Mercedes (1931 Mercedes-Benz 770 "Grand Mercedes"). Auer only produced a very small number of series. In 1949, Auer merged with Boku Maschinenfabrik GmbH. These are inactive today.
Autenrieth
Georg Autenrieth (born 1881) completed his apprenticeship as a wheelwright at Auer Karosserie. After his apprenticeship, he successfully passed his master craftsman's examination and in 1905 moved to the Neckarsulm-based vehicle manufacturer NSU. Here he made a name for himself as a bodywork technician. In 1912, Georg Autenrieth founded Karosseriewerke Weinsberg together with bank director Franz Eisenloh in Weinsberg. In 1921, Georg Autenrieth separated from his partner Fritz Eisenlohr to set up a new company in Darmstadt: "Erste Darmstädter Karosseriewerke Georg Autenrieth". From 1922 onwards, bodywork was produced for a wide variety of car manufacturers (Adler, Austin Healey, BMW, Fafag, Falcon, Imperia, Opel, Maybach, Mercedes, Porsche, Röhr, Veritas, etc.). Up to 400 people were employed. Many coachbuilt cars won prizes in automobile beauty contests. Georg Autenrieth died on 17 June 1950 and his daughters Gertrud Friebis and Helene Trüby took over the management of the company. Son-in-law Franz Trüby was responsible for the technical area and the development of new bodywork designs. In the 1950s, coupés and convertibles were created on the chassis of the BMW 501 and 502, which were characterised by their elegant lines. A convertible saloon based on the Opel Rekord A became one of the last works of the Autenrieth company before it closed its doors for good in 1964.
Balzer Karosserie
Karl Balzer (born 1886) worked for J. W. Utermöhle (Cologne), Auer (Stuttgart-Cannstatt) and Daimler (Bad Cannstatt) before setting up his own business as a coachbuilder in 1925. Balzer's speciality was removable coupé and saloon roofs (hardtops) for Adler, Horch, Minerva, Mercedes-Benz (mainly), NAG, Opel, Steyr and Wanderer. However, he also built commercial vehicle bodies, ambulances, as well as advertising and sales representative vehicles with many shelves, compartments and storage facilities for sample cases. Karl Balzer died in 1957. The company is still active and family-owned today.
Baur
Baur Karosserie- und Fahrzeugbau GmbH was a car body construction company based in Stuttgart. Baur was founded in 1910 and remained family-owned until its insolvency at the end of 1998. Baur became known for its conversions of BMW vehicles. Other vehicles produced by Baur include the Dyna-Veritas, DKW 1000 SP, the Opel Kadett Aero and the Bitter CD. In addition, a number of Horch, Wanderer, Mercedes-Benz and DKW bodies were built.
Binz
Normally, a journey in a car bodied by the company Binz does not mean anything good for the passenger. This is because the coachbuilding company from Lorch near Stuttgart mainly builds ambulances and hearses, but also police cars, e.g. for the Stuttgart traffic police. Binz was founded in 1936 as Lorcher Karosseriefabrik Binz & Co. by Michael Binz. The main business before the Second World War was the construction of cabriolet bodies, taxis and lorry bodies. After the war, Binz specialised in extended limousines (estate cars) and funeral and ambulance cars. In 1991, Binz founded Binz Ambulance- und Umwelttechnik GmbH in Ilmenau (Thuringia) to build emergency ambulances and VW T4 ambulances. In May 2012, Binz Ilmenau went into insolvency. The insolvency administrator sold the company's assets to the Thai RMA Group. This sale led to a separation of the company activities in Ilmenau and Lorch. In 2015, BINZ Ambulance- und Umwelttechnik GmbH was taken over by the current shareholders (management buy-out). In June 2018, the Lorch-based coachbuilder Binz had to file for insolvency. Binz GmbH & Co. KG in Lorch filed for insolvency on 5 June 2018 despite full order books due to a lack of liquidity. The company was liquidated in January 2019.
Buhne
In 1919, Heinrich Buhne (1889-1968) founded a coachbuilding company in Berlin. He specialised in building taxis on standard commercial chassis such as Adler, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Dixie, Ford, Opel, Pluto, Presto and Steyr. Hundreds of Buhne taxis were in operation in Berlin. In 1931, however, the business became unprofitable due to the banking crisis. Buhne therefore concentrated on building fine, sports convertibles, sports coupés and special bodies. These included the Adler 2.5 litre Sport, Mercedes Benz 540K, Maybach SW38, Austro Daimler ADR, Rolls Royce Phantom II, but also vehicles from Bugatti, BMW, Fiat, Hispano Suiza and for Opel. Well-known customers included the heavyweight boxing world champion Max Schmeling and the actors Victor de Kowa and La Jana. On the night of the bombing on 22/23 November 1943, the company was completely destroyed. After the war, Heinrich Buhne re-established his business in Berlin. This company, with around 50 employees (as of 1996), only manufactured special bodies for commercial vehicles and special bodies, as well as advertising and large-capacity bodies. However, as the market for such vehicles became too small, the Buhne company was dissolved in 2005.
Drauz & Co.
In 1900, Gustav Drauz (1872-1951) founded the Heilbronn company 'Carosseriefabrik G. Drauz & Co.'. The first body was built for NSU, later bodies were built for many other automobile manufacturers: Adler, Benz, BMW, Buick, Chrysler, Daimler, DKW, Ford, Fiat, Horch, Maybach, Minerva, NAG-Protos, NSU, Opel, Plymouth , Porsche and Röhr. Due to the geographical proximity to NSU, Drauz was a house supplier there. Drauz's specialty was high-quality and exclusive convertibles, but all-steel buses were also built. Drauz was also a Fiat licensee. The bodywork company Alexis Kellner (Berlin) filed for bankruptcy in 1930. In the same year, Drauz acquired the name and patent rights from Alexis Kellner. This included, among other things: the Kellner patent for the use of a leather strap in the middle above the top to prevent the fabric roof from bulging when driving quickly. This patent was mainly used in convertible construction for Ford Germany. At that time, Drauz founded Alexis Kellner GmbH in Heilbronn, which served as a sales company for Drauz bodies. Also in 1930, Drauz took over the body production of Süddeutsche Fahrzeugwerke Schebera Heilbronn AG, a subsidiary of Schebera GMBH (Berlin), which was part of Jakob Schapiro's corporate empire. His automobile empire (NSU Motorenwerke, Cyklon Maschinenfabrik GmbH, Hansa-Lloyd, Gothaer Waggonfabrik including Dixi-Werke, Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, and Benz & Cie., Protos, NAG, the Berlin taxi company Kandelhardt and the Berlin Sportpalast) collapsed due to the banking crisis. In 1944, the Drauz company's facilities were also destroyed. After a difficult new beginning, series production of delivery vans and buses began again in 1949. From 1953 to 1965, around a quarter of a million bodies for the Ford FK 1000/1250 (later Ford Taunus Transit) and 3,514 Porsche 356 Cabriolets D (from 1958 to 1961) were built and sold. During this time, the Drauz company also further developed pressing, drawing and punching tools and modernized the tool making department. In 1965, Drauz sold the Heilbronn body production to NSU and shifted its focus to building machine tools for automobile production. Drauz Werkzeugbau GmbH was founded and is still incorporated into ThyssenKrupp (formerly Hoesch AG).
Dörr & Schreck
The name Dörr & Schreck from Frankfurt (1919 to the 1960s) once stood for the haute couture of Frankfurt coachbuilding. Dörr & Schreck produced series of bodies for the Adler Trumpf and Adler Trumpf Junior, as well as one-offs on chassis from Opel, Chevrolet, Maybach and Mercedes. Other masterpieces were: 1936 Adler Renn-Limousine, 1937 Opel Super 6 for Georg von Opel, 1939 Maybach SW 38 (Fulda) and 1939 Maybach Zeppelin DS8. Dörr & Schreck worked very closely with Baron Reinhard von Koenig-Fachsenfeld on the streamlined vehicles.
Erdmann & Rossi
Erdmann & Rossi was a Berlin coachbuilder, which became known in the first half of the 20th century, especially with individual luxury superstructures. Bonds from the aircraft industry, flowing lines, aerodynamic design, extremely high build quality - Erdmann & Rossi were far ahead of its time. Erdmann & Rossi was founded in 1898. In 1949, a final body was produced from its own production on the chassis of a Maybach SW 42.
Friederichs
Heinrich Ludwig Friederichs founded his carriage manufacturing company in Frankfurt am Main in 1840. Carl Friederichs, the founder's son, took over the business in 1876. From 1900, his sons Heinrich and Rudolf Friederichs managed the company. Heinrich Friederichs received the first patent in Germany for a convertible body and also became purveyor to the court of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Until 1939, they built individual automobile bodies to order on chassis from Adler, Austro-Daimler-Benz, Daimler, Horch (Horch 600), LaSalle, Maybach, Mercedes, Packard, Peugeot and Steyr. The oldest Maybach still in running order is the 1926 Maybach W5, built by Friederichs! Friederichs still exists today and continues to operate under the name Carl Friederichs GmbH. They build new vehicles and are active in the accident repair of cars, trucks, buses and special vehicles. They produce cash transporters, police and ambulance vehicles, armored limousines, laboratory vehicles, fire engines, municipal vehicles and airfield vehicles.
Gläser-Karosserie Dresden
Gläser-Karosserie Dresden was a German manufacturer of high-quality and luxurious car bodies. The company was founded in 1864 as Heinrich Gläser Sattler und Wagenbau. Production took place in Dresden and Radeberg, and from 1950 to 1952 in Weiden in the Upper Palatinate, where 100 Porsche cabriolets (356 with Reutter tops and 540 America Roadster) were bodied. The first Gläser body was built in 1905 on the chassis of a Mercedes Triple-Phaeton for the Saxon royal family. Over the years, chassis from Adler, Audi, Austro-Daimler, BMW, Dixi, DKW, Horch, IFA, Ley, Maybach, Mercedes, NSU/Fiat, Opel, Protos, Röhr, Steyr, Wanderer and occasionally also from Aston Martin, Bugatti, Buick, Ford and Marmon Eight were bodied.
Gustav Hornig & Co
The roots of car body construction in Meerane lie with the Gustav Hornig & Co. Wagenfabrik, which was founded on 13 August 1869 by Gustav Reinhold Hornig. In 1906, the company switched from coachbuilding to car body construction and from then on called itself Gustav Hornig & Co. One of the first orders was a saloon on a chassis from Presto-Werke Günther & Co. in Chemnitz. The Hornig company subsequently succeeded in establishing business relationships with well-known automobile companies: Adler, Audi, Brennabor, BMW, Chevrolet, DKW, Dux, Elite, Ford, Horch, Maybach, Mercedes-Benz, NAG, Opel, Presto, Rex, Simplex, Steyr, Stoewer and Wanderer. Hornig also built commercial vehicles ranging from ambulances to buses. Special Hornig cars were the 1936 DKW F 5 Roadster, the 1934 Horch streamlined coupés for the 2000 km Deutschlandfahrt, and the 1935 DKW F5 suspension class after Jaray. On 30 June 1946, Hornig in Meerane and its competitor Ernst Dietzsch sen in Glauchau were expropriated. The state-owned companies were renamed VEB Karosseriewerk Meerane and VEB Karosseriewerk Glauchau in 1947. The so-called state-owned body factory in Meerane produced bodies for the IFA F 8, the F 9 convertible saloon, the sensational Wartburg Coupé and, from 1958, the Trabant 500, but also buses for Framo, Barkas and bodies for lorries from Zwickau, Werdau and Ludwigsfelde, to name just the most important. The VEB Karosseriewerk Meerane was closed on 27 October 1998.
Ihle
The brothers Rudolf and Friedrich (Fritz) Ihle from Bruchsal were both master car mechanics. Together they founded Gebrüder Ihle KG in Bruchsal in 1930. They specialised in open two-seater bodies on Dixi and BMW 3/15PS chassis, but also on the DKW 600 and DKW 700, and Ford Eifel. The customer could obtain a kit for self-assembly or have his car converted in Bruchsal. At the time, Ihle advertised with the following text: "Facts decide! After the Second World War, however, Ihle also developed vehicles for car and go-kart tracks (bumper cars), sound-track railways for amusement parks, cable car cabins, ghost train vehicles and gondolas for roundabout rides.
Joseph Neuss
The native of Aachen Joseph Neuss opened in 1857 his wagon construction business in Berlin. In 1889 his son Joseph Neuss Jr. took over the business. Among other things, the racing car Protos was built. Lieutenant Koeppen took part in the race from New York to Paris in 1908. With the third owner Karl Trutz from Coburg, they concentrated on the automobile business. Special bodies were built on Audi, Horch, Bugatti, Maybach and Mercedes chassis for prominent customers. Trutz made his company Joseph Neuss to one of the most respected body shop brands in the German Reich. In 1933 Joseph Neuss was taken over by Erdmann and Rossi. Until 1935 Erdmann & Rossi bodies still bore the additional name Neuss on the wagon plaque. Then the name Joseph Neuss disappeared.
Karl Deutsch GmbH
Karl Deutsch was employed as a master wagon builder at the wheelwright J. W. Utermöhle GmbH in Cologne for many years. This filed for bankruptcy in 1913. Karl Deutsch acquired the insolvent Utermöhle and from 1914 called it 'Westdeutsche Fahrzeugwerk GmbH'. In 1916 the company 'Karl Deutsch GmbH' was created. At first, Deutsch mainly built truck trailers, but also some custom-made products. After the First World War, individual structures for cars and small series continued. One of Deutsch's major customers was Citroën: Citroën opened a production plant in Cologne-Poll in 1927 (Cologne commercial register number 6379: "Citroen-Automobil Aktiengesellschaft") as the French automobile manufacturer's only German plant to date. For the Citroën B 14, from 1927 onwards,... Cologne mainly manufactured bodies that were mounted on the delivered chassis. This resulted in commercial vehicles, medical vehicles and taxis. It was the first assembly line production of cars in Cologne. A total of 18,710 Citroën vehicles of the Rosalie types B14, C4, C6 were manufactured -Series and Traction Avant with a body. Deutsch turned the C4 and C6 into chic convertibles. Deutsch is said to have built around 1,000 bodies for Citroën. However, due to increasing restrictions on foreign companies, production at Citroën ended in 1935. On September 7th In 1929, Carl Heine (General Director of Ford) and Konrad Adenauer (Mayor of Cologne) signed the contract for the property in the north of Cologne. The first Ford from Cologne rolled off the assembly line on May 4, 1931. Ford's daily production was initially designed for 60 cars. However, this could not satisfy the demand for Ford cars. Deutsch became the house and court supplier for Ford. In 1934, 8 to 10 bodies could be completed per day, and four years later it was already 30 per day. In addition to the Ford companies in Cologne, the Ford factories in the Netherlands were also part of the clientele. In the 1930s, more than 10,000 bodies for the Ford Eifel alone came from Deutsch. Deutsch made a name for itself primarily as a convertible supplier. Beautiful Ford V8 or the Ford Taunus de Luxe (called Buckel-Taunus), Taunus 12M and 17M were created. There were also small series orders from Borgward (15 coupés and Isabella convertibles) and Opel (Opel Rekord C and Opel Commondore A GS: 15 units). But one of the most beautiful Opel models of all time was also dressed in Cologne: the Moonlight Roadster from 1932/3 on a 1.8 liter chassis. At the beginning of the 1960s, an Audi 100 Cabriolet was built as a prototype, but it never went into series production. At times, Deutsch was one of the leading body manufacturers in Germany. Thanks to the close cooperation with Ford, Deutsch experienced its most successful period in the 1930s. Up to 700 people were employed in the heyday. The emerging safety debate at the end of the 1960s made selling convertibles increasingly difficult. The laborious manual work also led to economic difficulties. A Ford Capri was one of the last cars to have a body built in the early 1970s. In 1971, body construction was therefore discontinued. In 1972, Deutsch filed for bankruptcy.
Karosseriewerke Joseph Hebmüller Söhne
Joseph Hebmüller was a trained wheelwright and took over the wagon maker Sauer in Wuppertal-Barmen, where he worked at the time, in 1889. He continued the company under his own name. After Joseph Hebmüller's death in 1919, his four sons took over the company and from then on called themselves Karosseriewerk Joseph Hebmüller Söhne. In 1920, they designed the first car bodies. In addition to one-off production, some series production was added over time. As the business grew, two more plants were built in Wülfrath. The newspaper "Wülfrather Zeitung" wrote on 26 January 1935 that Hebmüller produced around 50 cars every month. The best-known car is probably the Hebmüller convertible, of which a total of 675 were produced in 1949 and 1950. The list of cars that received a Hebmüller body over time is long and select: Adler, Austro Daimler, Borgward, Buick, Bugatti, Chrysler, DKW, Delahaye, Dixi, Fiat, Ford, Grät & Stiff, Hanomag, Hansa, Humber, Körting, Krupp, Ley, Mannesmann, Mercedes-Benz, NAG, Opel, Packard, Röhr, Steyr, Stoewer, Tempo, Tornax, Vertias, Volkswagen, and Wanderer. But some lorries and delivery vans were also built. In 1949, a Wülfrath plant burned down. Large parts of the factory were completely destroyed. This was rebuilt, but despite full order books, Hebmüller never recovered. In 1952, the long-established company had to close for good.
Kruck
In 1838, Heinrich Kruck founded a carriage-building business, which was taken over by his son and eventually his grandson Georg. They were allowed to call themselves purveyors to the court of the Grand Duke of Hesse and the Prince of Montenegro. In 1899, Georg Kruck acquired the J. Beisswenger carriage factory. Kruck opened a branch factory in Wiesbaden in 1905 and a branch in Berlin in 1906. Kruck had its own patent (D.R.P.) for the construction of Landaulet bodies. Around 1920, coachbuilding was completely abandoned and the company switched to bodywork and vehicle production, primarily on the basis of Opel automobiles. Bodies for Benz, Selve, Audi and NAG were exhibited at the Berlin Motor Show in 1921. The advertising slogan was 'Kruck auf Opel'. In addition, a motor vehicle and spare parts trade was operated. In the course of the global economic crisis, the main Kruck plant in Frankfurt had to close in 1929. However, production continued in Wiesbaden. The licence holders for Weymann bodies in Germany in 1927 were Deutsche Industrie-Werke AG, Drauz, Gläser, Otto Kühn, Kruck, Papler, Reutter, Eugen Rupflin, Seeger & Sohn, and Voll & Ruhrbeck. Georg Kruck retired in 1931. In 1937, Anton Finster, who had joined the company as managing director in 1924, took over Kruck Karosseriebau. The company still exists today under the name 'Karosseriebau Finster'. Probably the best-known Kruck body is the 1928 Opel Regent Baden Baden. A Benz 21/50 Kruck saloon with a first registration date of 7/1914 still exists today, but it is not known whether other vehicles with a Kruck body exist.
Louis Gaertner Aktiengesellschaft-Bremen
Carl Heinrich Louis Gaertner founded the carriage construction business 'Louis Gaertner Aktiengesellschaft-Bremen' in 1880. In 1906, 'Norddeutsche Lloyd' founded 'Norddeutsche Automobil- und Motorenwerke Aktiengesellschaft' (NAMAG), thereby spinning off its automobile and engine construction activities. The car brand Lloyd belonged to NAMAG at the time. As NAMAG did not have its own bodywork department, it mainly had its Lloyd cars bodied by Gaertner. In 1912, 'Louis Gaertner Aktiengesellschaft-Bremen' was incorporated into NAMAG and was then called 'Bremer Wagen- und Carosseriewerke'. In 1914, NAMAG and Hansa-Automobil-Gesellschaft merged their two companies to form 'Hansa-Lloyd'. Due to economic difficulties, NAMAG had to liquidate the 'Bremer Wagen- und Carosseriewerke' in 1927. The company's real estate was acquired by Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Borgward and his partner Wilhelm Tecklenborg, who later incorporated the real estate into Goliath-Werke Borgward & Co GmbH. A further merger in 1931 created "Hansa-Lloyd und Goliath-Werke Borgward & Tecklenborg oHG", known as Borgward from 1937. This became the fifth largest car manufacturer in Germany and went bankrupt in 1961.
Luchterhand & Freytag
Luchterhand & Freytag was founded in Berlin in 1899. Luchterhand & Freytag quickly developed into a commercial vehicle specialist and producer of advertising vehicles. The company also built bodies for postal vehicles, ambulances and funeral vehicles. After the end of the Second World War, they specialised in the sale of conversions or conversions into motorhomes or delivery vehicles. On 20 January 2012, the company was acquired by M-Color Karosserie Lackiererei GmbH and removed from the commercial register.
Reutter
Karosseriewerk Reutter & Co. GmbH was founded in 1906 by master saddler Wilhelm Reutter (1874-1939) in Stuttgart. Reutter applied for numerous patents, including patent no. 225555 on 24 July 1909 for a "folding top with canopy. This "reform body" was thus a constructive forerunner of the cabriolet. Reutter was also a licensee of the Weymann system: leatherette-covered wooden frameworks. Until the Second World War, Reutter built elegant and luxurious bodies for customers on the chassis of almost all renowned German car manufacturers: Adler, Benz, BMW, Daimler/Daimler-Benz, Dixi, Horch, Ley, Maybach, NSU, Opel, Presto and Wanderer. Foreign car manufacturers also had bodies for their vehicles made by Reutter: Ansaldo, Austro-Daimler, Bugatti, Buick, Cadillac, Chrysler, Fiat, and La Salle. The best-known prototypes produced by Reutter were: the Volkswagen for 1932 Zündapp Type 12 and Type 32 based on the NSU, and the 1932 Porsche Wanderer Type 8 Urach, all cars that Ferdinand Porsche played a major role in designing. Erwin Komenda was responsible for the body design of the Type 8 at Porsche. The Type 8 was thus the first order for Porsche after the founding of its own design office on 25 April 1931 and the first and at the same time the last eight-cylinder engine from Wanderer. The Berlin-Rome car (Porsche Type 64) was also fitted with an aluminium body by Reutter in 1939. In 1940, the streamlined K-4 car was built on the basis of the BMW335 designed by Prof. Wunibald Kamm. After the Second World War, a very close partnership developed with Porsche for the production of Type 356 sports car bodies. Reutter built coupé and convertible bodies for over 60,000 vehicles of the legendary sports car from 1950 to 1963. Other individual orders in the post-war years included the development of the BMW 501 prototypes and the conversion of the Citroën DS 19 with a special convertible top. On 1 December 1963, the body plant in Zuffenhausen was sold to Porsche. After 58 years, the company history of the Stuttgart bodywork factory Reutter und Co. GmbH came to an end - and the first chapter of the new company RECARO (derived from REutter CAROsserie) was opened. Today, Recaro is a global company for car and aeroplane seats and much more. Porsche is still a RECARO customer today.
Schebera
Carrosserie Schebera GmbH was founded in Berlin-Tempelhof in February 1911 by Ernst Schebera and the businessman Paul Günther, who was also the owner of the Heilbronner Fahrzeug-Fabrik. The “Heilbronner Fahrzeug-Fabrik”, founded in 1905, ran into difficulties after the First World War and was merged into “Carosserie Schebera GmbH” in 1919. In the same year (1919) Ernst Schebera emigrated to the USA and worked there for the Fleetwood Metal Body Co. The head of the transaction was Jakob Schapiro, who became the leading speculator in the automobile industry during the 1920s. Jacob Schapiro became the new managing director and in 1920 also the owner of the Schebera Carrosserie. By resolution of the general meeting on December 27, 1924, the name of Carosseriewerke Schebera AG was changed to Schebera AG Automobilwerke. Schebera's clients were Adler, Audi, Daimler, Dixi, NAG, NSU, Protos, Opel, Rolls Roys, Siemens-Schuckert, Stoewer, and Vomag. In 1926, NSU had to take over the Berlin-based Schebera AG Automobilwerke, which was facing bankruptcy. Süddeutsche Carosseriewerke AG in Heilbronn was dissolved by resolution of the general meeting on October 25, 1930. The body production was sold to the Drauz-Werke.
Utermöhle
Utermöhle was founded in 1900 for the production of carriages and car bodies. The company headquarters were on Heliosstraße in Cologne. In 1903, the production of automobiles began. Already in 1905 the own car production ended. Utermöhle was taken over by Karl Deutsch in 1913 and renamed Westdeutsches Karosseriewerk. In 1916, Karl Deutsch changed the name to Karl Deutsch GmbH.
Wendler
In 1840 Erhardt Wendler founded his company in Reutlingen, which later specialized in coachbuilding. Together with the designer Helmut Schwandner, they designed American-style bodies and were thus very successful. The Wendler company designed and constructed for many well-known car manufacturers such as BMW, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz bodies. Unfortunately, the company slipped into bankruptcy in 2000.