Postwar East German Horch Designs

Germany's luxury Horch brand, Wikipedia entry here, was based in Zwickau, Saxony.  At the end of World War 2 Zwickau was part of the Russian occupation zone that in 1949 became the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik), commonly called East Germany.

I posted about some magnificent prewar Horch's here and here.  Marxist ideology required "equality," so Communist bloc countries built very few luxury cars, and only for top leadership use.  Therefore, Horch ceased to be a luxury brand, being reduced to something like lower-midlevel Western makes.

This present post presents the Horch (later Sachsenring) P240 produced during the second half of the 1950s.  Also shown is the prototype of a luxury model that never saw production.

Gallery

1938 Horch 930 Limousine
An example of a prewar luxury Horch.

Horch P240 - photo via Autobilder
The Horch P240 was launched in 1955.  This is an early model with vertical grille bars.  (By the way, Autobilder translates as "car pictures.")

Horch P240 - photo via Autobilder
Styling was slightly awkward, but in line with similar size Western European cars.  Included was a curved windshield and wraparound backlight, both probably imported from West Germany.  The two-tone paint scheme was in line with current USA fashion.  Note the side chrome trim, as something similar will be seen below.

1958c Horch-Sachsenring P240
The design lookes better in monochrome.  The restyled grille design seems to have been inspired by ...

1952 Delahaye MS Coupé by Henri Chapron - Bonhams photo
Delahaye was a French luxury brand in its last legs in the early 1950s.

1954 Opel Kapitän
A roughly equivalent West German car was General Motors' Opel Kapitän.  This appeared while the P240 was under development.

1956 Opel Kapitän
Here is the Kapitän's 1956 facelift that appeared the model year after the P240 was launched, but perhaps its design was frozen in the spring of 1955 when the P240 was first displayed.  Its side chrome trim is not identical to that of the Horch, but quite similar in concept.

1950c Horch 920S prototype
An evolution of the prewar Horch 930S Stromlinie design.

1950c Horch 920S prototype
The tall windows and low hood reduce what otherwise would be considerable visual bulk related to the slab sides.

"Form Follows Function" -- For Automobile Styling?

For more than a century a secular religion strongly held by many architects and designers is the idea that "form follows function," as mentioned in this link to Wikipedia.

The dean of the University of Washington architecture school, Arthur Herrman, was my instructor for a class on architectural history.  He was seriously hard-core when it came to form and function along with being true to one's building materials.  The following year I took first-year Architectural Design, where one student was gently, but firmly, told that his non-modernist apartment design was verbotten territory so far as the School of Architecture was concerned.

At that time I had been reading early books by American industrial designers (I was an ID major then). The goal of making designs where form was shaped by function was mentioned along with the need to streamline and simplify products.

I'm sure that this carried over to early automobile stylists, a number of whom had architectural backgrounds or had read some of those industrial design books.  Nevertheless, I am pretty sure that most stylists then and later tended to not practice "form follows function" to the nth degree.

That said, not long ago a Fiat stylist proclained himself a follower of the religion. The above Wikipedia link includes the following quote:

"If the design of an automobile conforms to its function—for instance the Fiat Multipla's shape, which is partly due to the desire to sit six people in two rows—then its form is said to follow its function." -- Fiat Multipla designer Roberto Giolito, via Automotive News Europe 19 July 2019 (link here).

I posted about my dislike of the Fiat Multipla design here.  Even if Giolito was correct in his statement (which I dispute to some degree), the result was not attractive.

But enough theorizing: The present post presents examples of designs that are fairly pure followers of the dictum.

Gallery

Gestetner duplicating machine - c.1929
The redesign of this device was important in launching Raymond Loewy's career as an industrial designer.  This is what a pre-Loewy machine looked like.

Gestetner duplicating machine - c.1930
And this is Loewy's version.  The functional parts are hidden by cladding that simplifies the appearance.  The main purely "functional" benefits are: (1) the machine is easier to operate, and (2) less dust will collect on the mechanisms, making it easier to maintain.

1926 Essex Coach
Now for automobile design.  Essex began making closed-body sedans of this style for the 1922 model year.  The car shown has a functional exterior design in that the main components are clearly seen: passenger compartment, doors and windows, radiator, headlights, bumper, fenders, running board.  However, the design seems awkward in terms of proportions -- especially the short hood that functionally houses a short, inline four cylinder motor.

1930 Packard Standard Eight Sedan
A luxury car of similar vintage.  Its functionality is of the same ilk as the Essex's.

1930 Packard Standard Eight Sedan
Note the separate trunk.  Thee are some decorative moldings below the windows that are non-functional in mechanical or layout terms.

1930c Audi Type T "Dresden"
The same can be said for this European design from the country that hosted the avant-garde Bauhaus design school.

1933 Tatra 77 prototype
Another function is aerodynamic streamlining which is related to fuel consumption efficiency.  For this function to dominate, components such as were mentioned with regard to the Essex are now merged  into a wind tunnel tested envelope shape.  Here the front fenders are not well integrated and the hood seems too stubby.  But the car is fairly attractive.

1939 Horch 930 S Stromlinie
The front fenders of this Horch are better integrated than those on the Tatra above.  However, the passenger compartment seems out of place.  That might be because it is functional in terms of passenger access, headroom and outside visibility -- not so functional in terms of streamlining.

1949 Nash
An American example of streamlining in the early post- World War 2 years.  The simple, slab sides cover what would have been wheel openings.  This streamlining contradicted the functional needs of easily accessing the tires and of a better turning radius.  The overall design seems too heavy looking.

1952 Saab 92
Saabs at the time were made by an aircraft company, so the body was wind tunnel tested.  This early Saab is attractive seen from this angle, though the back window seems to be placed too low.  Also, there is no trunk lid, making access quite inconvenient.  Two functional demerits there.

1951 Gutbrod Superior
Now for some designs that emphasize simplicity such as Loewy promoted.  The Gutbrod was a very small, inexpensive car.  Small cars can't carry much decoration, and the only decorative elements seen here are the simple grille bars and the nose crest.  All told, a fairly attractive design.

1952 Škoda 1200
This Škoda is larger than the Gutbrod, yet also has minimal decoration.  Although the exterior shapes are simple, they strike me as being awkwardly proportioned.

1947 Kaiser Special - Mecum Auction photo
A post- World War 2 design from an essentially new carmaker.

1947 Kaiser Special - Mecum Auction photo
Again, simplicity of forms is stressed, but like the later Škoda, the overall effect appears awkward.  Simplicity itself does not seem to guarantee aesthetic success.

1957 Imperial Southampton Coupe
Another function of an automobile's design is being salable.  That usually means that a car's looks are in tune with current design fashions and the functions discussed above are sublimated to marketing prowess.  The 1957 Imperial is shown here because this design let to the brand's greatest production volume year in its history.

1957 Imperial Southampton Coupe
Another view of this successful in marketing terms design.

Cross-posted at Art Contrarian

1938 Horch 853A Special Roadster by Erdmann & Rossi

I wrote about ace race dirver Berndt Rosemeyer's Horch 853 Coupé by Erdmann & Rossi here.  This post is about another Erdmann & Rossi 853.  It's a 1938 853A Special Roadster restored by RM Auto Restorationn. Its commentary on the car and restoration is here.  It notes:

"These first two cars [discussed in the article] may be considered the 'first series' cars, in that they closely resemble the [factory's] wooden model, and are virtually identical to each other. Both survive, one in Texas (Dr. Charles Key) and one in Germany (Horst Lautenschlager). "A subsequent series of cars were built (the 'second series' cars) which differed from the first in several respects. The coachwork was more modern, and featured pontoon shaped fenders and a one piece rear body (no separate fenders).

"Five of these cars were built, three of which are known to survive today. The first example was built for Nazi Herman Goering ... This first Horch 853 Special Roadster was ordered to be dismantled, although parts of the car were used in the subsequent four Special Roadsters.

"A second car remains unaccounted for, while the three surviving cars include two currently residing in Europe, and the example presented here, the Cassini car.

"The Cassini car's prewar history remains unknown, but it was imported to the U.S. in the late 1940s by a returning serviceman ..."

Below are photos of the restored 853 via the RM web site.

Gallery

First, two photos taken at a Pebble Beach Concours d'Élegance.

Despite what the above quotation states, I contend the the rear fenders are essentially distinct.

This set of photos shows the car with its top raised.  The design is impressive from the firewall forward --  that long, long hood with its side louvres and bits of chrome trim.  The headlights seem a little too high, but the shape of the catwalk (see the first photo above) required that placement.  Abaft of the firewall, things get Baroque (the rounded cockpit coaming and curved character line across the door) and even Art Deco (the decoration on the rear wheel spats).

As for the rear fenders, whereas they are distinct when viewed from the rear or quarter, it's true that the front edges are almost completely blended into the body shaping as can be seeing this image and the one above.  The front fenders seem bulbous and might need a subtle character line to reduce that visual mass.

As for the car's rear, the tail lights are tiny and placed close to the thin bumper segments.  The rack forward of the spare tire is placed on a lid for storage of a few travel items.
Despite my quibbles, this Erdmann & Rossi design is very impressive as well as being emotionally satisfying.

Bernd Rosemeyer's Horch 853 Spezial Coupé and Replica

Germany's Horch brand automobiles were produced from 1900 to 1940, though the initial firm was merged into the new Auto Union in 1932.  Horch cars were upscale, rivaling Mercedes-Benz.

In the 1930s Auto Union built mid-engine Grand Prix racing cars designed by Ferdinanrd Porsche.   One of Auto Union's ace drivers was Bernd Rosemeyer who was killed late in 1938 while attempting to set a speed rcord on one of Germeny's new Autobahnen.  Before his death, appreciatetive Auto Union management had a custom Horch 853 coupé created for him.  It is the subject of this post.

Part of the destruction inflicted on Germany during World War 2 was Rosemeyer's 853.  Years later, a replica was built and offered at auction in 2019 by Bonhams.  The suggested price range was $400,000 to $600,000. I do not know the result of that auction.

Its Bonham auction page is here. It notes:

"Auto Union commissioned for their star driver his own special automobile, a spectacular streamlined coupe that rivaled anything else on the road. With coachwork constructed by Erdmann & Rossi to a design by their employee Johannes Beeskow, it was built on a special shortened 130-inch, 120-horsepower 853 chassis. The body featured the elegantly tapered pontoon-style front fenders and short rear fenders of Beeskow's Spezialroadsters on the same chassis, the most enormously valuable of all Horchs."

Some information regarding coachbuilder Erdmann & Rossi is here.

Photos of the re-creation are from the Bonhams web page.

Gallery

Two views of Rosemeyer and his Horch 853.

The replica seen from the front.  Aside from the fenders, its basically contemporary Horch.

Rosemeyer's car might have been painted German racing silver.  The replica is black, which enhances sculptural aspects of its design.

Rear ends of 1930s cars were seldom highly decorated.  However, note the thin chrome strips on the top of the rear fenders -- a feature also found on the front fenders. These might have served to conceal two-piece fender construction.

The after part of the car does not have fastback streamlining, though the design is racy.

Side view showing the long hood that houses an inline eight cylinder motor.  The passenger greenhouse is quite short and its profile does not blend well with the rear of the car as seen here.  It works better when seen from the perspective in the second image from the top.