A unique event in automotive history

Opel was the largest German vehicle manufacturer at the time. The market share was 37.5%. On November 8, 1928, the eight-cylinder "Opel Regent" was presented at the Berlin Motor Show. With a displacement of 6 liters, it was the most powerful German eight-cylinder. When it was unveiled, experts described the Opel Regent as the pinnacle of German automotive engineering. The Opel Regent was available in three different versions: roadster, touring car, and Pullman luxury sedan. The chassis cost 15,000 Reichsmarks, another five to six thousand had to be paid for the body and interior fittings, and another 1,000 Reichsmarks for the Maybach overdrive transmission, if desired. Careful observers see that the Regent did not have an Opel emblem. That was because the Regent was marketed by an Opel subsidiary.

The `Regent' not only had an imposing name, it was also a very impressive car. With a standard body, the Regent was 5.40 m long and 1.83 m wide. The wheelbase was always 3.70 m and the curb weight was 2.2 tons. The tire manufacturer Continental supplied the low-pressure balloon tires with a size of 32 x 6.75 inches. The Opel Regent developed 110 hp and accelerated the vehicle, which weighed more than two tons, up to 120 kilometers per hour. A sixth “overdrive” was offered for an additional charge, with which 130 kilometers were reached. 23 liters of petrol and 0.7 liters of oil were used over a distance of 100 kilometers. Because of its high weight of 2.1 t - the chassis alone weighed 1550 kg - it was also equipped with four built-in hydraulic jacks. 

Wilhelm and Friedrich Opel sold 80% of their company to the American automobile manufacturer General Motors in March 1929. The purchase price was $ 33.35 million, at today's value more than half a billion euros. As agreed in the sales contract, GM demanded from Opel - in what was probably a unique event in automobile history - to buy back all 25 "Opel Regent" sold by the end of 1929 and to scrap them immediately - under supervision. Existing tools, parts, brochures, technical plans and drawings as well as press materials also had to be destroyed. In short, everything was destroyed. GM feared otherwise competition for the GM types in the upper class, Cadillac and Buick, which were significantly more expensive. GM practically wiped out the Opel Regent. As a result, there is very little information and photos. It would not be surprising, however, if information / photos were still available in the GM archives. 

There are some freely available photos of the coupé version of the “Regent” (Autopioneer 04 with registration number VS-16589, registered in the Starkenburg province, bodied by Kruck). There are very few photos of various limousines that we bought from the Historisches Bildarchiv Dr. Paul Wolff & Tritschler. These show limousines at the Wiesbaden Autorevue 1929 with the license plates: IT-3919 (start number 333, registered in Hessen-Nassau), IID-9477 (start number 431, registered in Palatinate), and VS-8166 (start number 430, registered in the province Starkenburg). 

Imagine: What if a real Opel Regent had survived ......

…… .but through our ‘small‘ model car, the Opel Regent becomes visible again and thus lives on. 

Do you have photos, information or design drawings of the Opel Regent? If so, please let us know! We are very happy to forward this to the Opel Historical Archive. Because that's where the information and photos belong. Not possible? With our 1936 Maybach SW 38 Authenrieth model car for Heinrich Müller (Schuco), we have already received valuable and previously unknown information and photos about the original car: A model car solved an automobile-historical puzzle. A very important contribution for friends and experts of automotive history. Please also help us with the Opel Regent !!

1931 Adler Standard 8 by Walter Gropius

In 1928, the Adlerwerke wanted to crown the success they had had with the Adler Standard 6 and the Adler Favorit with the Adler 8-cylinder. The Standard 8 was to compete with Mercedes, Horch and the American 8-cylinder cars. To achieve this, the renowned founder of Bauhaus architecture Prof. Walter Gropius (1883 - 1969) was hired. He was commissioned to design new car bodies and a new Adler company logo. The logo, the Gropius-Adler-Mascot, was proudly used by the Adlerwerke until 1998. An original Gropius radiator grille is on display in the car design collection of the city of Ingolstadt.

For the motor shows in Paris in autumn 1930 and in Berlin in spring 1931, two cabriolets and five large saloons were built on Standard 6 or Standard 8 chassis by the coachbuilder Neuss, Berlin, based on Gropius' designs. The coachbuilder Karmann, Osnabrück, built a further 23 Gropius cabriolets. Only a few Gropius cars were sold, because they were too expensive and too extravagant. Prof. Walter Gropius was given a cabriolet with which he and his wife won several beauty contests until their emigration to London (UK) in 1934. A photograph of this cabriolet is still known from wartime, but then every trace is lost.

The door was made according to an American patent. There were four hinges on each side: Two at the top and two at the bottom. There were also two door openers. The trick was that the door could still be opened to the front and to the rear. There is even a photo of this car without a door. A journalist had operated both door openers at the same time. Unfortunately, the door fell out. This defect was later remedied with the help of an opening lock.

Unfortunately, none of the 30 or so Adler-Gropius vehicles survived. But there is a ray of hope! Experts, sponsors and enthusiasts around the Adler Motor Veteranen Club Deutschland are reconstructing an Adler Standard 8 Limousine 'Model Gropius', also affectionately known as the 'White Elephant', from existing parts and custom-made new parts.

Do you have any knowledge, photos, components or other information about the Gropius Eagle? If so, please let us know! I am a member of the Adler Motor Veterans Club and we are very grateful for any knowledge. We are also preserving automobile history for you! 

By the way, through our model car 1936 Maybach SW 38 Authenrieth for Heinrich Müller (Schuco) we have been able to clarify the whereabouts of the original car and have received previously unknown photographic material from the grandson of the last owner of the Maybach. You don't know what you don't know and what 'treasures' you own. With this in mind, have fun and success in your treasure hunt.

A somewhat unusual German symphony: Porsche - Wanderer - Reutter
 
At the end of 1930, Dr.-Ing. h.c. Ferdinand Porsche has his own design office in Stuttgart. This was entered in the commercial register on April 25, 1931. The entries in the directory of Porsche construction orders show that the first six items (Type 1 - Type 6) have been left blank. This was deliberately done so that the client did not get the impression that his orders were the first to be received by Porsche. The entries type 7: chassis 1.86 liters; Type 8: chassis 3.25 liters; and Type 9: 3.25 liter chassis with compressor show Wanderer as the first Porsche customer. Smart marketing or a bit of cheating? Everyone can judge this for themselves.

Erwin Komenda was responsible for the body design of the Type 8 at Porsche. Overall, there were two slightly different prototypes of the Type 8: the streamlined body, which was later driven by Professor Porsche himself, and a sedan with a somewhat conventionally designed body. Both bodies were completed by Reutter in Stuttgart in 1932.

The Stuttgarter Karosseriewerk Reutter & Co. GmbH was based in Stuttgart and was founded in 1906. On December 1, 1963, the body shop in Zuffenhausen was sold to Porsche. After 58 years the company history of the Stuttgart bodyworks Reutter und Co. GmbH ended - and the first chapter of the new company RECARO (derived from REutter CAROsserie) was opened. Today Recaro is a global company for cars and aircraft seats and much more. Porsche is still a RECARO customer today.

In the Reutter directory, the type 8 was listed under number 3374 with the name Wanderer Urach limousine. In the Wanderer Directory, type 8 was only named type 8. He didn't get a common wanderer name. Porsche also developed the eight-cylinder type 8 engine.

In 1932 Auto Union took over the Wanderer works. Within Auto Union AG, Horch was entrusted with the construction and sale of large cars. Wanderer was given the task of building mid-range cars. As a result, a Wanderer automobile with an eight-cylinder engine no longer suited the desired Wanderer model range.

Ferdinand Porsche had completed his development task. Wanderer, however, still owed him money. It was agreed that the streamlined car would be offset as payment. Porsche also received further development contracts from Auto Union. Ferdinand Porsche drove the Type 8 streamlined car as a private car for several years. Unfortunately, nothing is known about the whereabouts of this wonderful unique piece.

The Type 8 was therefore the first order for Porsche after the establishment of its design office and the first and at the same time the last eight-cylinder engine from Wanderer.

The book from Delius Klasing Verlag is very well worth reading: Stuttgarter Karosseriewerk Reutter - From the Reform Body to the Porsche 356 (ISBN No. 978-3-7688-1829-2).

Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith WtA 62 Nubar Gulbenkian 1947

Nubar Gulbenkian (1900-72) was an Armenian-born playboy tycoon who lived at the Ritz Hotel in London. His money came from the family's oil business - it owned five percent of BP's stock - and he was a well-known figure in the city who always wore an orchid in his buttonhole and used a monocle.

Nubar Gulbenkian liked big, fast and expensive cars. He developed a fondness for Rolls-Royce in the post-war years, having already owned many fast pre-war sports cars before. Of course, his Rolls-Royces were as extravagant as he was. Many of his Rolls-Royce were designed by Gulbenkian himself! This ranged from the outer shape to the luxurious interior. He even owned two Austin FX4 taxis, which were built in true Brougham style, with gilded carriage lights and an open chauffeured compartment. They were equipped with Rolls-Royce engines.

The first baptized Pantechnicon was the 1947 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith. There was a traditional sliding Deville extension over the chauffeured compartment - a recurrent theme on Nubar's cars. All windows were electrically operated. There were no sweeping, but flush, door handles which were not visible from the outside to support the streamline shape. Rolls-Royce was not very happy with the car and the English coachbuilder Hooper had no desire to give his name in connection with the Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith, but both needed the work.

In the car magazine Autocar 17 October 1947, a vehicle variant with two-tone bronze color and beige-colored interior was described. However, silver gray and dark blue were the corporate identity colors of Nubar Gulbenkian. Photos of the original vintage wreck, which is currently being restored in the UK, show exactly this color scheme. Described is this Rolls-Royce in the book Lawrence Dalton's "The Elegance Continues" in 1969.

An unmistakable diamond: the Borgward "Windspiel" 1937

From 1929 to 1961, Borgward was a traditional German car manufacturer based in Bremen. Four brands were produced: the "Lloyd" small car, the "Hansa" cars of the lower middle class and the "Goliath" delivery van, as well as legendary mid- and luxury-class cars, land speed record and racing sports cars, and Borgward trucks and buses.  Tractors, tanks and helicopters were made on a smaller scale.

Borgward was the fourth-largest German car manufacturer of its time. At the end of the 1950s, almost 23,000 people worked in the Bremen plants. The best-known and most successful Borgward car was the famous "Isabella" with over 200,000 sold. Other outstanding models were the "Dream" car of 1954 and the "Goliath" record car of 1951. The last car, the Borgward "P100", was produced in 1961.

One of Borgward's first aerodynamic milestones was the "Windspiel" four-door sedan. This was developed in 1936 by Borgward's chief designer Herbert Scarisbrick and factory manager Friedich Kynast in the Bremen "Hastedter" plant, and presented in 1937 at the International Motor Show. With its streamlined bodywork and the patented four-piece windshield (Reichspatent 669255C from 1938), the Borgward "Windspiel" attracted considerable attention.

The "Windspiel" achieved a top speed of 130 km/h with a 4-cylinder gasoline engine, rear-wheel drive and an output of 40 hp (29 kW). The knowledge of aerodynamic experts Paul Jaray and Reinhard Koenig-Fachsenfeld must have contributed to the conception of the "Windspiel". Whether it was tested in a wind tunnel at the time is unknown. Mathematically, however, its excellent streamlining (according to Helmut Hütten's approximation formula) is clearly evident.

With the "Windspiel", Carl F. W. Borgward demonstrated how innovative his company was. Unfortunately, no orders for the car were received, so the Borgward "Windspiel" remained an one-off. An attempt was made to market a slightly modified car called the Hansa "Windspiel", but this failed, too. However, various elements of the "Windspiel" later were incorporated into the "Hansa 2000" (1938 - 39). Unfortunately, nothing is known about the whereabouts either the Borgward "Windspiel" or the Hansa "Windspiel".

In short, the technicians and designers were too advanced and could not convince the audience that this was the most progressive car of its time.

History:The Adlerwerke previously Heinrich Kleyer AG (Frankfurt), were among the most important German automobile manufacturers before the First World War. Of the 55,000 passenger cars that drove in the German Reich in 1914, every fifth car was an Adler! In the twenties and thirties Adler was always the third or fourth largest car manufacturer. For comparison, about 46.5 million cars are registered in Germany today! Heinrich Kleyer and Edmund Rumpler formed the management team. Hans Gustav Röhr was the chief designer from 1931-1935 and designed the Adler Trumpf Junior Sport land speed record car.

The Adler Trumpf Junior was produced from 1934. It had front-wheel drive like the larger model, the Adler Trump, but an engine capacity of only one litre. In 1934 and 1935, just over 100,000 Adler Trumpf Juniors were built.

The Record Run:On March 25, 1935, an Adler Trump Junior Sport land speed record lap by lab d car began to turn round by round on the Avus motorway. A standard Adler Trumpf Junior was given a two-daysports car trial with a 1000 cc engine. The only new things introduced were streamlined wheel covers and the driver's hood. In addition, the compression of the engine had been increased to 1:7,6 and the muffler removed. The sum of these measures resulted in a final speed of 125 km / h, so it was possible to drive parade-laps of 115 km / hour.

The racing drivers Paul Schweder and Rudolf Hasse (Bruno Jaddatz was added on the third day) took turns while driving the Adler. The trip was originally planned as a factory trial. The car would be tested to see how long the  Adler could withstand reckless driving at a target speed of 110 km / hour, without the engine failing. As the end of the 48-hour journey approached, the crew were a bit puzzled. The Adler had already driven 5,000 km and the target speed was met. But the decision-makers on the ground decided to test who could keep up the pressure for longer - human or machine? The result was a clear victory for the machine!

The Adler Trumpf Junior Sport Record Car drove around 16,000 km in seven days and six nights! On the penultimate day Paul von Guillaum joined as the fourth driver. When, after 151 hours, the trip was cancelled, the Adler still had a total average speed of 103.36 km / h, breaking 13 existing world records. And this despite a heavy snowstorm on the penultimate day of the record run. The journey took place using Conti balloon tyres 4.5 / 17 and fuel from Aral. The record run was measured by the sports facilities of the DDAC (Der Deutsche Automobil-Club) . After the record run, the car drove to the opening of a highway in the convoy, and was then shelved by the Adler Sports Department. In 1943 the Adler Trumpf Junior Sport Record Car was destroyed in the bombardment of the Allied forces.

The Mercedes SS-special convertible as a measuring car

When it opened in 1921, the AVUS was the first street in the world on which only vehicles were allowed to drive. In 1932 the ‘Motorway’ Cologne-Bonn was opened to traffic. Concrete plans for further motorways existed before the National Socialists took power in 1933. With a law dated June 27, 1933, Hitler made the planned motorway construction a task of the state. Mr. Willy Hof was responsible for the construction of those motorways. On November 24, 1933, Mr. Hof ordered a convertible with an SS chassis with 27/160 / 200PS (No. 36345, engine No. 72766) from Daimler-Benz AG. This chassis (already manufactured in 1931) was passed on to Erdmann & Rossi Berlin for bodywork.

Erdmann & Rossi (1898 - 1949) was a Berlin body construction company that became known in the first half of the 20th century primarily for its individual luxury bodies. Borrowings from aircraft construction, flowing lines, aerodynamic design, extremely high quality workmanship - Erdmann & Rossi were far ahead of their time at the time. The individual bodies were / are unique and world famous!

This extraordinary convertible was shown for the first time at the Berlin Motor Show in 1934. The colour was light grey. The rear with the two spare tires was very expressive. Therefore, the British and American visitors christened the Cabriolet ‘Penguin’. Streamline expert Professor Emil August Everling was instrumental in the design of the special convertible.

In 1934, Mr. Hof and his drivers travelled to northern Italy. At that time there were already motorway-like roads. These had to be measured and tested! The goal was to learn from Italy. The Cabriolet was equipped with appropriate measuring devices. It raced across the road at 200km / h in order to gain experience with cross winds. Due to the poor road conditions and the enormous speed, the tires often burst. In addition, the full coverage of the rear wheels did not allow ventilation and therefore cooling of the tires. This also caused the brakes to overheat. The biggest problem, however, was the extremely high speed! The other road users were not prepared for a car to come rushing from behind at such a speed. As a result, there were some accidents, which luckily went very lightly.

The special cabriolet was rebuilt several times by Erdmann & Rossi. It also received the warning colour 'orange'. In the last conversion stage, white stripes were even applied to the car. For this reason, the German engineers lovingly christened the car 'The Parrot'. After successfully completing the test drives in Italy, Mr. Hof undertook further test drives in Germany with the Cabriolet. He crashed with the SS special convertible on the Reichsautobahn between Frankfurt and Darmstadt. It was the same route on which Bernd Rosemeyer had a fatal accident in 1938.

Woodies (wood-bodied station wagons) can be a luxury cars!

Driving a car used to be a luxury reserved for the relatively small upper class. The Horch brand represented luxury cars of the highest calibre, but then the Horch Woody (station wagon) came along – just a bit different! In 1938, 382,000 cars were produced in Germany (today 6 million) and about 1.3 million were registered ( now 45 million). In 1938 the cost of a Horch was 10,000-14,000 Reichsmark (one Reichsmark is equivalent to 3.70€). For the same money you could buy a luxury home!  The average wage at the time was 165 RM a month. These figures help to illustrate the value of the Horch 830BL Woody at the time.

The Horch 830 is a passenger car with an eight-cylinder V-engine and rear-wheel drive. The brand belonged to Auto Union, who launched it as a successor to the Type 430 at the 23rd International Motorcar and Motorcycle Exhibition in Berlin, February 1933. It was an improvement over the 830B (1935-40);  the 830BK led to the 830BL with 3.8 litres capacity and 92HP. The relatively small Horch was clearly superior to the Mercedes 320, and the V8 series became the most successful Horch model with a total of 9,571 cars produced.

At the time, the Wanderer Type W23 (known as the farmer's car) was declared  the first German/European 'Woody'. This model was for export to countries in southern Europe with the prototype completed in 1941. During the war, however, development stopped. Based on what we know today, the 1938 Horch 830BL seems to have been the first German/European station wagon. The Horch was bodied by F.M. Tarbuk (Vienna). We do not know if there is any other model of a pre WWII German Woody. It appears that our 1938 Autopioneer model Horch 830BL is the only one in Germany!

F.M. Tarbuk & Co., later Tarbuk Cars & Cie., was an Austrian vehicle trading and body shop company, founded in 1920 in Vienna by Fritz Tarbuk. In 1928 Tarbuk took over the general agency for Horch in Zwickau. By the end of the 1980s, the company  had expanded considerably, employed 1,000 people and was one of the 60 highest-revenue companies in Austria. In 1992, the group was renamed Tarbuk AG but in 2007, the company folded. More than 80 car brands were marketed by Tarbuk over 87 years; the company had relocated x times and even the turmoil of World War II did not cause it any harm. According to its long-term attorney Walter Priglhuber, "The death knell of the company was the disagreement of the owners".

Today, the restored Horch 830BL Woody is displayed in the EFA Automobile Museum in Amerang.

Barn find: The Frejat body has been found again!

To build this model car, we did research over a period of almost two years. Again and again we were able to add a piece of the puzzle to the overall picture. It started when our oldest customer (now 99 years old) gave us a sale advertisment of the car from a magazine (US$300,000) in the summer of 2019. Then we researched on the internet, bought and translated a French magazine with an interesting article, we also phoned the University in Stockholm and bought and translated a Swedish language document and the book "Mercedes-Benz 1930-Talets Kompressorvagnar i Norden" - both by Jan Melin. Google Translator was a helpful partner for us. Last but not least, our oldest customer gave us another later sale ad from another magazine (US$ 485,000). The final piece of the research puzzle was in place: 
 
The original Mercedes Benz 540k car was shown at an exhibition in Brussels on 04 January 1939. On 07 July 1941, the car was registered in Stockholm for Count Fredrik Wachtmeister with the registration number "A 976". In the turmoil of war, the trace is lost until 1947. From the archives of the French coachbuilder Frejat (Pont-du-Chateau) come two black and white photos with this unique 'Art Déco pontoon body' and the registration number "9606 NH 6". At this time, the front headlights were still integrated into the wings. Since the car has only one exhaust, it can be assumed that the 500K engine no. 113675 was already installed at this time. This engine comes from a 500K-Mercedes Cabriolet C, which was sold to Switzerland in 1935. In the post-war period, whatever was available was used. Practical aspects beat perfection.
 
In 1947/1948, the Mercedes was sold to Venezuela. An American later bought the car there and brought it to the United States of America in 1954. In the 1960s, a doctor from Florida bought the Mercedes and sold it to the Drottningholm Collection in Sweden in 1989. Who replaced the integrated front headlights with separate front headlights - as implemented on our model - is not known. In 1992 the Mercedes was sold to an investment company. They replaced the Frejat body with a roadster body. This presumably seemed more lucrative! What happened to the Frejat body was not known until now. Until now, because suddenly we received an email: 

Hello Mr. Sabrautzky, I have just read the article on your model car. I bought the body (without chassis) about 7 years ago and it is still in my possession. You are welcome to contact me by phone. Many greetings from .......

I could hardly believe it, made a phone call, and was on my way a little later. The barn door opened and suddenly this expressive body was standing in front of me: equipped with different headlights, additional lights on the mudguards, in wine red, and without a radiator grille. The radiator grille is part of the chassis. A shiver ran down my spine. And it wasn't because of the grey-wet wind that was blowing that day. And suddenly a circle was closed. My journey was over. The new owner found an advertisement in Mobile.de about seven years ago. He is a master coachbuilder himself and immediately took the offered body into his heart. He drove to Landshut and bought this gem from the estate of an entrepreneur. At that time, he did not know that it was the Frejat body. He only found this out when he happened to come across our website www.autopioneer.de and read the story. The journey of the Frejat body will soon continue, as it is looking for a new owner. Seriously interested parties are welcome to contact me. Last but not least: I just got off the phone with my oldest customer. He was thrilled. There, too, a circle has been closed. 

Who would have thought that a model car would once again close a historical gap in automobile history? We succeeded in doing so with the Maybach SW 38 Heinrich Müller. And we succeeded with the two Opels: 1937 Opel Super 6 for Georg von Opel and 1937 Opel Blitz 1.5 - 23 COE. If this is not a terrific motivation to tackle the next model car, what is? Stay curious!

Imperator - the first Audi eight-cylinder

Audi, then based in Zwickau, Saxony, built exquisite, high-quality automobiles from 1910 to 1940, building about 10,700 vehicles in that time. After a break of 25 years, Audi was revived in Ingolstadt in 1965. How did it get on?

On 19 June 1909, August Horch, who established the A. Horch & Cie. Motorenwagenwerke Aktiengesellschaft automobile factory in Zwickau/Saxony, left his company due to immense pressure from the Supervisory Board. With an initial DM200,000 of borrowed capital, he bought a former woodworking factory and in July 1909 and founded a new company, August Horch Automobilwerke GmbH. The Reichsgerich court decreed that August Horch was not permitted to give the new company his own name, as the right to use the name remained with the A. Horch & Cie. Motorenwagenwerke Aktiengesellschaft. He was compensated with  DM20,000 for the loss. A new company name had to be found. After some reflection, he came up with the Latin imperative 'Audi'. In the German language, this means Horch (which is a synonym for listening). Thus, the brand name Audi was born'.

In 1927, the first Audi eight-cylinder came onto the market: the Audi Type R 19/100 hp. Two spare wheels were standard for the 100hp Audis; however, only 145 were sold. At the launch people still spoke of "the majesty of strong cars". A short time later, the Audi Type R was confidently named 'Imperator' (Emperor, which was one of the most expensive automobiles of its time. On occasion, buyers paid more for an Audi than for a Horch. As was normal at the time, Audi handed over the chassis to various coachbuilders.

After economic difficulties, Audi GmbH was taken over by the Zschopauer Motorenwerke in 1928, which was owned by J. S. Rasmussen AG. The Zschopauer Motorenwerke was chiefly known for its DKW (Dampf Kraft Wagen) brand, which was the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world at the time.

Shortly after the acquisition of Audi in 1928, Jörgen Skafte Rasmussen allowed his elegant two-door convertible Audi Type Imperator to be converted by the Berlin coachbuilder Josef Neuss. Rasmussen's cabriolet was presented at the 21st International Motor Show in Berlin in November 1928 by Neuss, painted white, with the aim of boosting the sluggish sales of the Audi Type R. After the fair, the luxury cabriolet was painted black and handed back to Rasmussen in early 192, to use as his personal car.

The only remaining Audi Type R dates back to 1929 and can now be admired in the Audi Museum in Ingolstadt (Germany).