by Mike –
This is quite an attractive little car that I have never heard of before built using a Volkswagen chassis and engine. It has an elegant style that may have influenced other car designers.
I am sure that many of you are familiar with this little German sports car as you were the Sabra and the Denzel but not me I never heard of it.
Friedrich Rometsch began his coachbuilding business in Berlin in 1924. He supplied elaborate taxi bodies for various German manufacturers including Opel and Ley. During WWII Rometsch built mobile field kitchens for the German army. After the war Rometsch resumed his automobile coachbuilding business.
Johannes Beeskow was a car designer and in 1949 he approached Friederich Rometsch and convinced him to build a production run of coachbuilt cars based on the Volkswagen chassis.
Notice there are two grille designs.
Prior to this coachbuilders had primarily built one-off cars. But new times necessitated new thinking. Beeskow’s decision to utilize Volkswagen as the main parts supply greatly simplified Rometsch’s coachbuilding task and spawned the beginning of a new era for Rometsch.
In 1950 Rometsch Karrosserie became one of the first coachbuilding concerns to produce a production run of cars. But they were not alone. Along with Rometsch were Karmann, Dannenhauer und Stauss, Drews, Denzel, Beutler, Wendler, Hebmuller and Porsche … all producing small sporting cars based on Volkswagen components. Most of these are sadly unknown.
Initially Rometsch bought the chassis and running gear directly from the Volkswagen dealer network but after a time Volkswagen cut off supply because they saw competition.
Eventually Volkswagen’s answer to the Rometsch was the Karmann Ghia. Volkswagen had contracted the Italian Studio Ghia to design this car and it was penned by Ghia’s Luigi Segre. Volkswagen contracted Karmann, a coachbuilder competitor of Rometsch to build the sleek Italian designed Ghia.
In 1956 Karmann hired Beeskow away from Rometsch to help them with their design efforts. Beeskow designed the elegant convertible topped version of Luigi Segre’s Karmann built coupe.
The history above is taken from the Rometsch Registry written by Eric Meyer.
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
Excellent! I was hoping for the engine detail photo — And I wasn’t surprised to see that the air cleaner/filter was not oil filled. I remember leaving smoke trails when the carburetor / filter clamp wasn’t tight enough! But… this tradition was long lived. I wonder if the filter/cleaner in the photo is what the car came equipped with…
Mike, thanks for the VW-based rarities the past couple days. Stop by my house for a beer, and we’ll go through some old car books to bring you up to speed on the cornucopia of odd cars built since the early 1950s. (I’m out of my element before then.) Happy Thanksgiving!
I saw the same thing too, I suspect a retrofit
If you are interested in more information and pictures of the Rometsch Beeskow and Lawrence cars, check my Rometsch fanpage on facebook.
Pictures of all know Rometsches are posted there
regards
Patrick Baptist
Thank you Patrick, here is the link – I suggest others visit this Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rometsch-fanpage/331248706891699
These are really gorgeous unique cars!
Mike,
I love these cars as well. When I see them on display, I always make sure I can photograph them as extensively as possible. Here’s some links to to shots of a 1957 Rometsch Beeskow and a 1958 Denzel 1300 SS taken at an all-German car show in Anaheim, CA back in 2013 at the German-American Phoenix Club.
http://automotivetraveler.fotki.com/1957-rometsch-beeskow/?view=roll
http://automotivetraveler.fotki.com/1958-denzel-1300-ss/?view=roll
The marque is well enough known in Europe that 1:43 scale models are available. Here’s a nice one…
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Volkswagen-Rometsch-Beeskow-Cabriolet-1956-Silver-NEO-46175-1-43-/331777409519?hash=item4d3f7981ef:g:rgkAAOSwPhdVHfbt
Good looking cars, what happened to the Company?