German

1955 Rometsch

Founded in 1924 by Friedrich Rometsch, the company took advantage of the German custom of their buying a chassis complete with an engine and then employing a coachbuilder to add a custom-built body to it. By the late 1930s it was more usual to buy the complete vehicle.

Friedrich Rometsch and his son Fritz Rometsch earned their experience while working for the coachbuilder, Erdmann & Rossi.

Johannes Beeskow, a Rometsch designer, built the first prototype of a four door sedan in 1950; the donor vehicle being a Volkswagen Beetle in scrap condition. Rometsch took this concept into the production of a taxicab. The wheelbase had been stretched by about 11 in. Access to the backseats was made more accessible by adding suicide doors. Thereafter, original doors were modified.

The Beeskow was twice the price of its platform and parts donor, the Volkswagen Beetle. The Beeskow became “the Beetle for the high society”. The design of falling lines on head and tail of the pontoon body caused it to be nicknamed “the banana”. A third seat was installed behind the driver seat, turned by 90 degrees, facing the nearside. The actor Viktor de Kowa bought the first Beeskow at the Geneva Automotive Show. As Friedrich Rometsch had not thought of a price, he took a look at the Porsche exhibition booth next-door where the Porsche 356 was offered for 10,000 DEM and Rometsch offered the car for 9,800 DEM, which was accepted. Today that price would equal 47050 EUR. Both Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn also bought Beeskows. In the late middle 1950s, the design engineer Johannes Beeskow moved to the Karmann company in Osnabrück as their department manager of technical research. Some of the design elements from the Beeskow were found later in other vehicles such as the so-called “wheelbrows” on the bumpers of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL and also the roof of the Audi TT.

When sales declined, mainly due the competition from the mass production of the Type 14 Karmann Ghia, which was 1,500 DM cheaper and also built on the Beetle chassis, the general director of Volkswagen, Heinrich Nordhoff, stopped the supply to Rometsch. He also prohibited dealers from selling either chassis or vehicles to Rometsch. When Rometsch realised they were selling the Lawrence at a loss, he was forced to cut wages to piece rate.

A further blow hit Rometsch in the summer of 1961 when the construction of the Berlin Wall separated them from nearly half of their 90 employees overnight. The production of the sports car ended later that year.

-On loan from The Mike Malamut personal collection

1965 Amphicar

The Amphicar is still the only amphibious automobile ever mass-produced for sale to the public. The power plant was the 1147 cc (69 in³) engine from the British Triumph Herald 1200 introduced by the new owners Leyland Motors Ltd. Many engines were tried in prototypes but the Triumph engine was “state of the art” in 1961 and had the necessary combination of performance, weight, cool running and reliability. Updated versions of this engine remained in production in the Triumph Spitfire until 1980. The Amphicar engine had a power output of 43 hp (32 kW) at 4750 rpm. Called the “Model 770”, the Amphicar could achieve speeds of 7 knots in the water and 70 mph (113 km/h) on land. Later versions of the engine displaced 1300cc and 1500cc and produced up to 75bhp. Some Amphicar owners have fitted these engines to improve performance.

In water as well as on land, the Amphicar steered with the front wheels making it less maneuverable than a conventional boat. They are capable of about 7MPH in water and 70+MPH on land, hence the “770” model designation. They are also very capable boats in rough waters. Two crossed the English Channel in 1968 enduring 20′ waves and gale force winds.

-Part of the Malamut Auto Museum Foundation

1955 Auto Union Truck

Jorgen Skafte Rasmussen, a Danish engineer, founded a factory in Saxon, Germany in 1916 with the purpose of producing steam fittings. During the companies’ introductory year, they attempted to produce a steam-driven car, called the DKW (Dampf-Kraft-Wagen meaning steam-driven car). Though the attempt was not successful, the engine was later used in a motorcycle and called Das Kleine Wunder, meaning ‘the little marvel.’ Within a few years, the DKW brand would be the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles. In 1932, Audi, Horch, Wanderer, and DKW merged, forming Auto Union. In 1957, ownership came under Daimler-Benz and in 1964, was purchased by the Volkswagen Group.

Though motorcycles were a large part of the DKW business, automobiles were also an integral part. They produced cars from 1928 until 1966 and were one of the very first marque’s to use front-wheel drive and transverse mounting.

DKW Auto Union Company introduced the Schnellaster (also known as the Rapid Transporter) in 1949. The Tiefader model, or Low Loader truck model, had a 16-inch deck height, adding to the vehicle’s versatility.

This particular DKW Schnellaster Tiefader is powered by a two-stroke, three-cylinder, roller-crank, ‘3=6’ engine. It was assembled at Ingolstadt, Germany, on March 9, 1955. This utilitarian vehicle was used until 1960, after which it was put into storage in an industrial warehouse.

This is the only known Schnellaster Tiefader in North America as well as the only known fully restored example in existence.

This Tiefader is finished in its original specified Javabraun (Java Brown) livery. The 896cc 2-stroke, 3-cylinder engine develops 36 horsepower and is mated to a four-speed manual gearbox. At all four corners are hydraulic drum brakes.

-On loan from The Mike Malamut personal collection

1967 NSU Spider

The NSU Spider was produced by NSU Motorenwerke AG from 1964 to 1967. The Spider was the first Western production car in the world to be powered by a Wankel rotary engine.

Invented by Felix Wankel, the Wankel engine differed from a piston engine because the quasi-oval design of the combustion chamber, containing a rotor that ascribed within the chamber an Epitrochoid shaped trajectory, enabling the combustion pressure to be converted directly into a rotary motion. There was no need to lose energy converting reciprocating movement into rotational movement. The result was a remarkably compact free-revving engine which, in the 1960s, was hailed by some as the next major step forward in automobile design. It was later found that the characteristics of critical materials selected and applied by NSU to build production rotary engines were inappropriate to the stresses they would bear, and rotary-engined cars earned a reputation for unreliability. Engines required frequent rebuilding to replace worn apex seals,[3] and warranty costs associated with installation of the engine in NSU’s second Wankel-engined model destroyed the financial viability of NSU, forcing a merger with Audi in 1969.

First appearing at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1964, the Spider featured a two-door cabriolet body based on that of the NSU Sport Prinz coupé introduced back in 1959. In addition to the folding roof, the Spider was distinguishable from the hard top car by a grill at the front. As with all NSU cars at the time, the engine was rear-mounted: in order to improve weight distribution, space was found for the Spider’s radiator and for its fuel tank ahead of the driver. The front luggage locker was in consequence small. There was a second luggage area in the rear of the car above the engine.

1969 NSU Sport Prinz

The NSU Sport Prinz was produced by NSU Motorenwerke AG from 1958 to 1968. The Sport Prinz was a 2-seater sports coupe variant. It was designed by Franco Scaglione at Bertone studios in Turin. 20,831 were manufactured between 1958 and 1968. The first 250 bodies were built by Bertone in Turin. The rest were built in Neckarsulm at a company called Drautz which was later bought by NSU.

The Sport Prinz initially was powered by the 583 cc (35.6 cu in) Prinz 50 straight-2 engine but a maximum speed of 160 km/h (99 mph) was nevertheless claimed. From late 1962 a 598 cc (36.5 cu in) engine was fitted.

On loan from the Mike Malamut Auto Collection

1956 DKW Sonderklasse 3=6

The DKW 3=6 was a compact front-wheel drive saloon manufactured by Auto Union GmbH. The car was launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show in March 1953 and sold until 1959. It was also named as the DKW Sonderklasse and, following the factory project number, as the DKW F91. From 1958, by which year the car’s successor was already being sold and the earlier version had therefore become, in essence, a ‘run-out’ model, it was badged more simply as the DKW 900.

Apart from complications involving its naming, the 3=6’s notable features included its two-stroke engine and front-wheel drive layout along with the sure-footed handling that resulted.

In a market segment increasingly dominated by the Volkswagen Beetle, the Auto Union contender also boasted class leading interior space, especially after the arrival of the four-door version, which featured a modestly extended wheelbase.

This particular car is largely in original unrestored condition.

-Part of the Mike Malamut Personal Collection