AUTUMN 1955
FRANKFURT MOTOR SHOW, GERMANY
‘The roads leading to the entrance were very gaily decked out in flags and banners.’
OK – enough about the British Motor Show. The postwar German motor industry was getting stronger, too…
Visitors to the 1955 Frankfurt Motor Show could only a marvel at how far the German car industry had come just ten years after much of it had lain in ruins following World War Two. Or maybe not – for many it wouldn’t have been marvelling at production figures, but drooling over some of the incredible new models present.
Volkswagen – which, like Daimler Benz, Opel and Ford had its own exhibition hall at the show – was madly proclaiming its delight at churning out a million cars in a decade, with graphic illustrations of how these would, if put end to end, stretch to the moon and back. Other manufacturers also had wonderful tales to relate – and this show was the place to tell them. Held every two years, the Frankfurt Show – or IAA International Automobile Exhibition – can trace its roots back to 1897, when eight vehicles were displayed at the Hotel Bristol in Berlin. The postwar division of Berlin saw the show being held on the Messe Frankfurt for the first time in 1951, and it would become the world’s biggest event of its type.
Motor Sport magazine visited the 1955 show and memorably remarked in its report on the event that the roads leading to the main entrance ‘were very gaily decked out in flags by such firms as Opel and Borgward, while the accessory firms, such as Bosch and Continental also paved the way with advertising banners. This sort of thing all went towards making the show more of a fiesta than a heavy and serious-minded technical and commercial exhibition.’
Hmm, there was much to be serious about at this event, which was so big that we have to confess that our photo covers just part of the activities. We can, however, at least see the back of the car described as ‘the real pearl of the whole show’ – the magnificent BMW 507 roadster – the light-coloured car fourth on the left. More on this in our ‘Car of 1955’ section opposite.
Nearest to us on the left is a DKW Sonderklasse cabriolet from a range joined by a four-door version in 1955. The cars boasted a two-stroke 896cc engine. DKW became part of Auto Union in 1932 and had resumed building cars in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1950, only for Volkswagen to take over in 1965.
Next we have a superb BMW 501/2 V8, a Mercedes-Benz competitor with 2580cc – later 3168cc – engine built from 1954-56 and next to that another stunning 1955 BMW debutante, a 503 cabriolet.
Borgward was a major German manufacturer at this time, and
visible on its stand next up from BWW’s offerings in the background are various Isabella models, including a Kombi estate and convertible. Known for superb quality, Borgward enjoyed some success on the British market before the marque quietly went out of business in 1961.
Moving to the left, and ignoring the mysteriously covered car, is an example of the other great launch of 1955 – the Porsche 356A – which offered sharper styling and improved suspension and steering over its predecessor, the 356, which dated from 1948.
On the right-hand side of the picture we have mainly General Motors American offerings, with
Buicks of various descriptions and nearest the camera of this section a 1955 Century, complete with four portholes in the wings. Sorry, we mean ‘fenders’.
The car on the plinth in the foreground is a Fiat 600, which was built in Germany by Fiat Neckar as the Neckar Jagst. Being vigorously polished behind it appears to be a Fiat 1100 Spyder.
British manufacturers did have a presence at the show, Jaguar showing an XK140 drophead and coupé, BMC an MGA and Triumph a TR2.
Sadly, it appears that the 2019 Frankfurt Show may have been the last, with a move to Munich planned for 2021. An era has ended.