Wednesday 18 February 2009

Did any cars by Josef Ganz survive?

As an independent and consultant engineer Josef Ganz has designed and influenced a number of important cars and prototypes. A few of these still exist today. This list contains all known cars that he has designed with information on known surviving models:

Ardie-Ganz (Germany, 1930):
- designed and built by Josef Ganz at motorcycle company Ardie;
- 1 prototype chassis was built including two different bodies and tested in 1930: fate of prototype is unknown (presumed lost);

Adler Maikäfer (Germany, 1931):
- designed and built by Josef Ganz at car manufacturer Adler;
- 1 prototype built and tested in 1931:

  • the original prototype was discovered in Switzerland and has been restored by a German collector in the 1990s, recently sold to another collector in Germany (private ownership).

Mercedes-Benz 170 (Germany, 1931-1936):
- initiated by and designed under consultancy of Josef Ganz at Daimler-Benz;
- 2 prototypes built and tested in the Swiss Alps in 1931: fate of both prototypes is unknown;
- the Mercedes-Benz 170 was produced from 1931 to 1936, 13,775 cars produced: multiple cars presumed to exist:

Mercedes-Benz 120H (Germany, 1931-1932):
- initiated by and designed under consultancy of Josef Ganz at Daimler-Benz;
- several prototypes built and tested in 1931-1932: fate of all prototypes is unknown (presumed lost).

BMW AM1 (Germany, 1932):
- designed under consultancy of Josef Ganz at BMW;
- at least 1 prototype built and tested in 1932: fate unknown;
- the BMW AM1 was produced from 1932 to: multiple cars are believed to still exist:

Standard Superior (Germany, 1932-1935):
- designed and built by the Standard Fahrzeugfabrik according to the patents of Josef Ganz and partly based on the design of the Adler Maikäfer;
- 1 prototype built and tested in 1932: fate unknown (presumed lost);
- first production model of the Standard Superior was introduced in 1933, a few dozen cars were produced: only one almost complete chassis and a number of parts are known to exist (private ownership);
- second production model of the Standard Superior 'Deutschen Volkswagen' was introduced in 1933 and built from 1933 to 1935, a few hundred cars produced:

  • one fully restored car known to exist in Germany (private ownership).

Mercedes-Benz 130H (Germany, 1933-1936):
- initiated by and designed under consultancy of Josef Ganz at Daimler-Benz;
- the Mercedes-Benz 130H was produced from 1933 to 1936, 4,298 cars produced: multiple cars known to exist:

Bungartz Butz (Germany, 1934):
- designed and built by Bungartz & Co according to the patents of Josef Ganz;
- at least 3 cars known to have been built in 1934: fate of all cars unknown (presumed lost);
- unclear whether the Bungartz Butz was ever serially produced.

Rapid Schweizer Volkswagen (Switzerland, 1937-1947):
- designed by Josef Ganz;
- 3 or 4 prototypes built including one aluminium-bodied car dubbed Silberfisch in 1937: fate of all prototypes unknown (presumed lost);
- the Rapid was produced from 1946 to 1947, approximately 46 cars produced: 2 cars are known to exist:

  • one restored car is on display at the (Verkehrshaus) in Luzern, Switzerland ;
  • one car is currently being restored in the Netherlands (private ownership).

Julien M.M.5 and M.M.7 (France, 1947-1950?):
- based on the patents of and co-designed by Josef Ganz;
- unknown how many cars were produced: fate of all cars is unknown (possibly some models still exist in France?).

If you have any additional information regarding these or other cars designed by Josef Ganz, please drop me a line at Josef Ganz Archives. Thank you!

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