Solved ropat#72 Borgward Isabella 23

[ropat53]

What car is this?

[ropat53]

Up

[hugo90]

Is it a modified AMC Hornet?

[ropat53]

It is an AMC product, but not Hornet based.

Locked for hugo90 to find exactly what it is.

[hugo90]

I was going only by what it looks like.  Was it intended for South America?

[ropat53]

It was not intended for SOUTH America.

[Bill Murray]

IKA prototype or concept of some sort?

[ropat53]

No not SOUTH American.

[Bill Murray]

Sorry, ropat, I failed both English and Geography on that one :thumbsdown:.
Bill

[ropat53]

Bill this was locked for hugo90, even I missed that, but now unlocked and both for hugo90 and Bill, there's a very big hint in my previous answers :)

[WayneB]

Is it one of the Mexican assembled VAM Lerma AMC Concord based units?

[ropat53]

Is it one of the Mexican assembled VAM Lerma AMC Concord based units?

Yes Mexican AMC, but what is it and what engine did it have?

Locked for WayneB

[WayneB]

One year only 1979 AMC Brogward Isabella 23, AMC Concord body, Brogward engine.

[ropat53]

Yes that's what it is, well done.
1979 Borgward Isabella 23 based on AMC Concord made in Mexico with Borgward 6 cylinder engine.

[Wendax]

Does anybody have a picture of a real one? I've only seen one photo many years ago.

[sixtee5cuda]

If the internet does not contain an image of a car built in Mexico during 1979, does that mean the car was never really built?

:)

[Otto Puzzell]

"Not Hornet based" was a bit misleading.  ;)

The AMC Concord was a re-badge done when America Motors gave the Hornet a nose-job and a higher price-tag. The chassis, drivetrain, doors, roof, and myriad other bits were exactly as they had been on the Hornet.

[Wendax]

The real thing:

[sixtee5cuda]

News article containing the previous picture of the Isabella 23

[sixtee5cuda]

Rough Google Translation:

Borgward is a brand name of the past, in memories mainly associated with the Isabella type and the Lloyd small cars. In 1960 the Bremen company collapsed, and in 1977 its name appeared surprisingly at the Frankfurt IAA.

A new small company in Munich, which imports the Japanese Daihatsu Jeep, has had the name Borgward and the white and red trademark - falsified in a rectangular shape - protected and wants the "Hornet" coupe from the American Motors corporation (AMC) with the 2.3 liter six-cylinder engine of the former large Borgward from Mexican production.

The typical fender line of the Isabella Coupe was indicated with white lines on the flanks of the US car on display, a Borgward rhombus in the grill, and "Isabella" on the side with adhesive letters provisionally attached. Since the Hornet is very American and the AMC is not represented in Germany, neither nostalgic nor cool practitioners can jump on the idea, but young entrepreneur Peter Muller-Buchhof is hoping for 200 cars and 15 dealers by 1978.


Further information:
The Jan. 1978 issue of Road & Track has an article on page 66 entitled "The Frankfurt Auto Show", and the article shows a black & white pic with the caption "Borgward Hornet, or is it a Hornet Isabella?"
On page 67 the paragraph reads as follows;
"All of which brings us around to the more obscure exhibits, like the rebirth of Borgward. Munich Willys Jeep importer Peter Muller-Buchhof, has acquired from a man in Mexico City, 100 2.3 liter 100-bhp Isabella engines. He is craning the standard V8s out of AMC Hornet shells and replacing them with the ancient but economical and equally powerful Borgward straight 6s. Stick-on Isabella lettering identifies the model. Good luck Her Muller-Buchhof."