 | |
| Founded | 1926 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Wilhelm Gutbrod |
| Headquarters | German |
| Products | cars, motorcycles, agricultural machinery |
| Website | www |
Gutbrod was a Germanmanufacturer of cars, motorcycles and small agricultural machinery. The firm was founded inLudwigsburg,Germany byWilhelm Gutbrod in 1926. It originally built "Standard" brandedmotorcycles. In 1933 the company relocated to the nearbyStuttgart suburb of Feuerbach, and from 1933 to 1935,Standard Superior cars were built withrear-mounted engines.[1]
An updated version of the Gutbrod Superior introduced in 1953 benefited from developments towardsfuel injection undertaken byMercedes-Benz dating initially from 1935: this Gutbrod was the first car in the world to be offered with fuel injection,[2] some three years before fuel injection appeared in a production engine offered byMercedes themselves.
The smallGutbrod Superior model was produced from 1950 to 1954 using the company's own,front-mounted twin-cylindertwo-stroke engines initially of 593cc. In April 1953 the engine size was increased to 663 cc for more expensive 'Luxus 700' versions of the car, while the standard model continued to be offered with the original smaller engine.[3] Claimed power output was 20 hp (15 kW) for the base version, while for the larger engine 26 hp (19 kW) or 30 hp (22 kW) was claimed according to whether fuel feed came via acarburettor or a form of fuel injection.[3] Press reports commended the speed and secure handling of the cars but indicated that the sporty handling came in return for sacrificing some comfort.[3] It was also noted that normal conversation became impossible at speeds above about 80 km/h (50 mph) due to the noise.[3]
7726 cars were produced before the factory was forced to close. The car was developed at the company's small factory atPlochingen am Neckar[4] by Technical DirectorDr. Hans Scherenberg during the time of Walter Gutbrod who had taken over the firm in 1948 on the death of his father, Wilhelm Gutbrod (26 February 1890 - 9 August 1948). Scherenberg arrived at Gutbrod fromMercedes where the victoriouswar-timeallies had enforced a pause in engine fuel-injection development,[2] and in 1952 he would return to that firm.
A Gutbrod injection engine can still be seen in theDeutsches Museum inMunich.
It was a small two seater car, theoverall length was 3.5 m (11 ft), width 1.4 m (4.6 ft) and the total weight 650 kg (1,433 lb), max speed 90 km/h (56 mph). The car was offered as standard version for a price ofDM 3990, and as Superior Luxus for DM 4380. Recently, a restoration project of an injection model was sold inGeneva forCHF 3000.
In 1956, theNorwegianTroll car was built on a Gutbrod chassis. pioneering the use offibreglass in automobile coachwork along with theChevrolet Corvette as well as some other small scale car manufacturers.
Threewheeler
Vans and pickup trucks
Passenger cars
Tractors
