AutoCult Borgward B1250 Pollmann (1951) (Germany)

About the Original:

Taxi of Bremen

Among German automotive manufacturers the name “Borgward” stands even today for a company, which has always been innovative and forward-looking. How forward-thinking the management of the Bremen-based company with some of its models really was, becomes sometimes only from a present-day perspective clear. This applies the body design of a mini bus of Borgward, which equals the current generation of family vans.

In 1951 Borgward had the idea to built a car body on basis of a powerful automobile, which could accommodate overall eight passengers. Back then the cab trade was considered to be a suitable field of application. The Bremen-based body maker Pollmann, which built up reputation for its funeral vans, was charged with the design of a fitting to the Hansa-chassis car body. From a present-day perspective the design seems quite high, edged and less graceful. But this design was possibly due to Pollmann’s strict demand of using the front- and rear end of its series-produced passenger car Hansa. At least two prototypes in running condition were built in the first half of the 1950s, which indicates a certain seriousness of the management regarding this project.

But in the end the project was not approved to go into series production. Reasons for that got unfortunately lost in the course of time as well as both prototypes.