1939 Horch 853 Sportcabriolet

heroldius (65)in #cars • 6 years ago

For the Monaco sale the May 12th, [Bonhams])www.bonhams.com/auctions/24953/lot/146/) presents for auction this splendid 1939 Horch 853a Sportcabriolet for about € 400,000. As I said in a previous post, my knowledge is rather limited on pre-WW2 cars. But it's a pleasure to discover these cars with their beautiful lines....

History of the Horch 853a Sportcabriolet

First, do you know the car brand Horsh ? Last week, I had never heard of this German automaker founded in 1899 by the engineer August Horch. It's the direct ancestor of Audi with the foundation of Auto Union in 1932 (merging of Horch, DKW and Wanderer, all German car manufacturers). For the story, Audi began truly in the 1960's with the purchasing by Auto Union of Volkswagen from Daimler-Benz.

Horch produced many models in the 1930s to be a serious rival of Mercedes-Benz. In 1936, Horch introduced 4.9-litre Type 853 designed by Fritz Fiedler, German automotive engineer known for the BMW 328. The Sportcabriolet was produced about 950 examples.

Technical Specification

This model was restored from 2012 to 2017 by Appel-Klassiker (formerly Horch Classic), it was in poor conditions (missing parts, rusty). Great work using the surviving parts with the engine, gearbox...