Borgward was a unique company. And Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Borgward was a unique person. A highly innovative technician. A man who thought building the most beautiful cars was more important than tight business plans.
Served by the competition's lobby
The Borgward group collapsed in 1961 because the banks refused a credit and suppliers stopped their deliveries. Carl Borgward died, while his factories were being dismantled, on 28 July 1963 from a heart attack. Borgward had already paid off all his creditors. In 1965, weekly Der Spiegel wrote that a bankruptcy had been unnecessary and the company should not have perished at all. One of the cars that Borgwards genius had to prove did not do his job too well. No 2400 has yet been made of the Borgward Hansa 1954 from 1400. The car had a number of convincing negatives outside of its qualities. And very few have survived.
62 Years after its birth, the unrestored Borgward with its delicious patina still proves to be top quality. The interior shows only one wear spot on the back of the driver's seat. The rest of the interior is neat and distinctly chic. And the 2337 (not 2400) cc six-cylinder turns out to be a heart-conquering source of power. The old diagonal tires make it clear that the ride could not be too brave. Their asphalt contact was almost purely symbolic ...
The 'Schrägheck', we would now call it 'fastback' in modern Dutch, did not immediately cause the showrooms to be flooded with buyers. The 20 cm longer, more stylized 'Pulmann limousine did not do that either.
One of those scarce, and, as said, not restored, survivors was found on FaceBook by Aart van de Haagen. Aart went for a trot and was allowed to taste the unrestored Hansa.
He shares that story with you in AMK 2.
