Denzel WD 1300 1st Coupe Des Alpes 1954 #228 Denzel/Stroinigg

Denzel WD 1300 1st Coupe Des Alpes 1954 #228 Denzel/Stroinigg by Autocult

Sporting Success  

Wolfgang Denzel, supplier of the cars of the same name, achieved over 300 successes at sporting events in his career – on two and four wheels – and the greatest success of his career was the overall victory at the “XVII Rallye international des Alpes” in 1954.   On July 8, 1954, the riders started in Marseille and covered over 3,000 kilometers in the winding and mountainous roads of France and Italy before the racers finally finished their marathon ride in Cannes on July 13, 1954. 46-year-old Wolfgang Denzel was sitting behind the steering wheel and his companion Stroinigg guided him the way from the passenger seat. From today’s perspective, the fact that the duo chose a 1300cc Denzel convertible for the rally is unusual, because in the still snow-covered heights of the French and Italian Alps, temperatures were anything but summerly.   With the numbers of their starting number 228 painted in bold on the two doors, the two Austrians confidently dominated the “1001-1300” displacement class, so that they were rated as the fastest in their class at the finish line in Cannes. For Wolfgang Denzel, this was the greatest motorsport success, not least in his own car, which underlined his myth in the scene as the feared opponent of the Porsche drivers.   Of course, the victory was an enormous proof of the performance of the Denzel engine and the Denzel 1300, so that it not only increased awareness, but also boosted sales. But the Viennese company did not have the capacity to push its car production and continued to assemble its cars in modest series production. Denzel maintained its production until 1959 and even exported to the United States. A total of around 350 roadsters and coupes were produced before the company concentrated exclusively on the distribution/ sales of automobiles from 1960 onwards.