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Borgward

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Borgward

Borgward was a car manufacturing company, based in Bremen, Germany, founded by Carl F. W. Borgward (1890–1963). It produced cars of four brands, which were sold to a diversified international customer base: Borgward, Hansa, Goliath and Lloyd. Borgward's Isabella was one of the most popular German premium models in the 1950s, while Lloyd's Alexander / Lloyd 600 model offered affordable mobility to many working-class motorists. The Borgward 1500 RS race car featured a very modern engine design with four-valve DOHC and fuel injection. Despite success in the ongoing German Wirtschaftswunder economy miracle, Carl Borgward was reckless regarding cash flow, and his group ceased operations in 1961, following controversial insolvency proceedings. He died soon after, while the factory was taken over by competitors.

The brand was revived in the 21st century, with the Stuttgart-based Borgward Group AG designing and marketing cars manufactured in China before filing for bankruptcy in 2022.

The origins of the company go back to 1905 with the establishment in Varel (near Bremen) of Hansa Automobilgesellschaft and the foundation in Bremen itself of NAMAG, maker of the Lloyd car. These two businesses merged in 1914 to form the "Hansa-Lloyd-Werke A.G." After the war, in the troubled economic situation then confronting Germany, the business failed to prosper and by the late 1920s faced bankruptcy. For Carl Borgward, already the successful creator of the Goliath-Blitzkarren business, the misfortunes of Hansa-Lloyd presented an opportunity to greatly expand the scope of his auto business, and he took control of it.

The first vehicle Carl Borgward designed was the 1924 Blitzkarren (lightning cart), a tiny three-wheeled van with 2 hp (1.5 kW), which was successful in the market gap it filled.[citation needed] Traders with a small budget bought it for delivery. The Reichspost ordered many of them for postal service.

In 1929, Borgward became the director of Hansa-Lloyd AG having been able to merge his Goliath-Werke Borgward & Co. with Hansa-Lloyd. The small Goliath-Blitzkarren had by now evolved into the three-wheeled timber-framed synthetic-leather-bodied 5 or 7 hp Goliath Pionier. Borgward turned his attention to the other businesses and led the development of the Hansa Konsul. In February 1937, there came the new Hansa Borgward 2000 and in 1939 its name was shortened to Borgward 2000. The 2000 model was followed by the Borgward 2300 which remained in production until 1942.

After World War II, in 1946 Carl Borgward used some of the brand names from businesses he had acquired over the years to found three separate companies: Borgward, Goliath and Lloyd. This was intended to increase the quantity of steel allocated to his business at a time of austerity and rationing. For many purposes the companies would be run as a single entity; but in a business operated by a man to whom delegation did not come naturally, the proliferation of legal entities nevertheless added unhelpful layers of complexity through the 1950s and encouraged a broadening of the range which in the end proved financially unsustainable with the sales volumes achievable. In 1949 the company presented the Borgward Hansa 1500.

One of the top engineers at Borgward from 1938 to 1952 was Dipl. Ing. Hubert M. Meingast.

Production of the Borgward Isabella began in 1954. The Isabella would become Borgward's most popular model and remained in production for the life of the company. In 1959 the Borgward P100 was introduced, equipped with pneumatic suspension.

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