The Borgward Hansa 1500 is a medium-sized automobile manufactured by the Bremen based auto-manufacturer Carl F. W. Borgward GmbH from 1949 until 1954. It was first presented at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1949 and production commenced on 13 October 1949. The similar Hansa 1800 was introduced in 1952. The Hansa was replaced by the Borgward Isabella in 1954.

It is often seen as the first all new model launched by the German auto industry after the war. Introduced nearly four years before the better remembered "Ponton Mercedes" the Hansa featured the then revolutionary ponton, three-box design that subsequently became mainstream in Germany and across much of Europe.

The Borgward 1500 RS race car was derived from the Hansa 1500 engine.

The car was launched as a two- or four-door saloon with an all-steel body built around a central steel frame, which bears a resemblance to a 1949 Ford. The wings were fully integrated into the bodywork, and the passenger cabin filled the full width of the car. At a time when competitor vehicles from Opel Olympia and Mercedes-Benz W136 were still based on conventional looking prewar designs, the interior width of the Hansa, emphasized by the inclusion of bench seats both at the back and in the front, attracted favourable press comment. The car was seen as a genuine six-seater. Also noteworthy in 1949 was the separate lid that permitted the boot / trunk to be accessed from outside the car. At the other end, the bonnet / hood was hinged at the side and could be opened from either the left or the right side as necessary. Instead of traditional semaphore style direction indicators, the Hansa featured flashing lights for use as direction indicators, the flashing being replicated within the tri-functional rear lights which included within a single unit rear lights and brake lights along with the US style flashing direction indicators.

The driver was faced by a steering wheel linked to its central boss by three sets of four thin spoke like rods. The design of the steering wheel, reminiscent of the early Porsches, ensured minimal disruption of the view of the instruments behind it. Also behind the steering wheel was the column-mounted gear lever.

A two-door estate version and a five-seater two-door cabriolet were available along with a two-seater sports cabriolet. The cabriolets were both assembled by the coach builders Hebmüller in Wülfrath until May 1952. Rometsch showed a fastback two-door coupé variant called the Sport Coupé; the shape was not successful, with a tall bonnet, suicide doors, and a "dreary", downwards-sloping rear end. It sat on a shortened, 2,400 mm (94.5 in) wheelbase, but at twice the price of the more balanced looking 1500 Saloon only two examples were completed.

The Hansa was introduced with a 1498-cc four-cylinder OHV engine providing a claimed power output of 48 PS (35 kW). For 1952 the engine was modified to produce 52 PS (38 kW). A 66 PS (49 kW) output version of this engine was installed in the sports cabriolet. The Borgward engine had an unusual design where the intake manifold was on top the engine and came through the valve cover, along with the carburettor. Bill Blydenstein tuned several of these engines for racing with some success.

The column-mounted gear lever controlled a three-speed gear box or a 2-speed automatic gear box (with a gear-indicator on the column as visible on the photo).