Wartburg-Mercedes 170V 1956 Blue/White by Autocult
Survivors with a new look
As the ‘Iron Curtain‘ continued to rise after
the end of World War II and the last surviving vehicles relics of the 1930s
gradually were decommissioned in the fledgling GDR, the wave of uniform
products desired by the state system continued to cover the country. For
passenger cars this meant that the two-stroke Wartburg, initially produced in
1955, became the top model. Irrespective of the political requirements and the
state policy objectives, the last copies of the Mercedes type 170 V were also
still in use. The possession of one of those Mercedes models became an
ever-increasing prestige value as socialization progressed.
In the privately run workshop of the Schwarze
family in Görlitz, the idea was born to give some 170 V a second life by reassembling
them completely new. With a lot of craftsmanship and improvisational skill, the
tin craftsmen fitted the front of a 170 V body into the body of the Wartburg
311. The greatest attention was paid to the exact integration of the
distinctive Mercedes radiator, which had to be shortened for its new use. Even
today, employees of Schwarze company have to be attested that they implemented
this mixture very skillfully for their back-then limited facilities. The
original 1.7-litre four-stroke engine of the Mercedes 170 V ran unchanged
underneath the front hood. Here, too, a high level of ingenuity may have been
necessary to revitalize the aged Swabian drive, which already ran many
kilometers. With its 38 hp at 3,200 rpm, the West German engine was as strong
as the modern Wartburg engine, but the driver got the horsepower served from
four cycles instead of two! With a top speed of 110 km/h, the mix of the two
passenger cars was quite in line with the driving values of the time. From 1956
onwards, the privately devised conversion was mainly used by taxi companies of
Görlitz.
It is not exactly known how many copies of
this conversion the body maker Schwarze ultimately made. While some literary
sources mention 20 copies others state ‘at least three dozen’. The production
period of the private conversion extended to the threshold of the 1960s.
Description: | Wartburg-Mercedes 170V 1956 Blue/White |
Catalogue#: | ATC05033 |
Product Type: | Resincast |
Scale: | 1:43 |
Event: | Road |
Colour: | Two-tone Blue & White |
Drivers: | - |
Sponsors: | - |
Dates: | 1956 |
Race/Position: | - |
Release Date: | October 2020 |
Weight: | 450 grams |
Comments: | Limited edition of 333 pieces. |
About Autocult
A relatively new maker of very well finished resincast models, established in 2015. Very imaginative choice of subjects, often concentrating on the more eccentric episodes in motoring history! Production limited to 333 pieces of each subject, which often means that we get one delivery and that is it, so pre-orders strongly recommended!! Made in China for Germany.