Barrett's #254 - Solved - Borgward 'Traumwagen' No. 2, 1956

[barrett]

Looks like a repost, but it isn't! Full details of this retro-future vehicle for a point

[Allemano]

Looks like a repost, but it isn't! Full details of this retro-future vehicle for a point.


Believe me it definetely is!

[barrett]

Can an expert figure it out?

[fyreline]

1954 - or some sources say 1956 - Borgward "Traumwagen" (loosely translated as "Dream Car") experimental vehicle. Horizontally opposed 2500 cc engine, front wheel drive, about 125 bhp. Lightweight aluminum body, Borgward claimed approximately 125 mph top speed, although some press releases stated the car was capable of 200mph . . . but who knows for sure? A small number of rear-view photos are available on the internet showing large tail fins, and a small article appears in the 1970's Illustrated Motor Cars of the World book with all those great illustrations by Piet Olyslager . . . and that's where I know the car from.

[Otto Puzzell]

 

[barrett]

1954 - or some sources say 1956 - Borgward "Traumwagen" (loosely translated as "Dream Car") experimental vehicle. Horizontally opposed 2500 cc engine, front wheel drive, about 125 bhp. Lightweight aluminum body, Borgward claimed approximately 125 mph top speed, although some press releases stated the car was capable of 200mph . . . but who knows for sure? A small number of rear-view photos are available on the internet showing large tail fins, and a small article appears in the 1970's Illustrated Motor Cars of the World book with all those great illustrations by Piet Olyslager . . . and that's where I know the car from.

Of course you're correct and this is a Borgward Traumwagen, and all the information you have given is correct, however this is not quite enough for the point. There was more than one of these cars, and I'd like to know which one this is and why it was built. Normally I wouldn't be so picky, but as so many people have incorrectly pointed this out to be a repost I think it is worth clarifying exactly why it isn't one! Locked, of course, for you to complete the answer

[fyreline]

OK, here's what else I could find . . . apparently that there were actually four different 'Traumwagens' built by Borgward between 1955-58. The first version was designed by ex-Tatra employee Erich Übelacker and featured an all aluminium twin OHC flat-four driving the front wheels, and an aluminium body on a steel frame. It was badly damaged in a crash in August 1955, and the phase II car was built around the remains. This seems to be the one that is shown in your picture; Main changes were the lower fins, a different one piece roof and restyled tail section. This version of the car also had a Bosch fuel injection system and an 8 speed pre-selector gearbox (..!!) which resulted in the claimed (by Borgward) 125mph top speed..... It was finally scrapped in 1958. Two further 'Traumwagens' were built, but I'm not sure if they were totally new cars or evolutions of this one.

I'm not entirely sure what you're looking for in the "why was it built?" question. After all, why are most experimental cars built?   One article (all in German, thanks for that experiment in translation on my part!) quite strongly stressed Borgward's exploration of lightweight aluminum construction and aerodynamics - at least that's what I think it said - but somehow I believe you've got something else in mind?  Borgward did help pioneer the automatic transmission in passenger cars in postwar Germany - so perhaps that "8-speed pre-selector gearbox" in the Traumwagen was an early step down that road.

Another article (again, all in German – I wish I could translate it better) states that the man from Tatra, Erich Übelacker, wanted a test vehicle for a new generation of engines.  He designed this "Dream Car" with front-wheel-drive, disc brakes of his own design, aluminum body construction and a huge hinged Plexiglas dome (with no windshield wipers!). Different boxer-style engines of 2 or 2.5 liters were fitted, both in carbureted and fuel-injected form. Übelacker apparently even entertained the idea of having the entire exterior of the car's body gold anodized . . . and in fact there are 1/43-scale diecast replicas of the car available, some of which have this finish. After it's 1955 accident (reportedly due to failure of the experimental disc brakes, with resultant intervention by a tree), the series-one car was rebuilt to the style you pictured. Although most sources say the car was scrapped in 1958, at least one witness said the car was still in the Borgward truck plant at Osterholz-Scharnhorst around that time. So who knows. maybe it's still around somewhere.

Am I sneaking up on that point yet?

[barrett]

Yes, you've nailed it! The why I was looking for was merely the fact that Traumwagen #1 had been written off and was rebuilt into this confguration.

I was expecting you to stumble on the body of text you quoted there as it seems to be one of the few mentions of this car online and in English. Did you notice who the author was?  

Anyway, a well-deserved point for you sir

[fyreline]

I did indeed notice the author, it actually made me laugh out loud. I have always thought that at least half the fun of this site is doing the research, and the happy accidents you tend to come across when doing so. True once again.

And you just HAVE to love this car, and the "clean sheet of paper" thinking that it represents. Back in the 1950's when everyone thought that the "cars of the future" would look like this, Borgward actually built one. Bravo.