AutoCult Stoewer Arkona Coupé (1940) (Germany)

About the Original

Superb, fast and yet almost forgotten

In 1858, the 24-year-old Bernhard Stoewer founded a precision mechanical repair workshop in Szezecin. The highly innovative company founder devoted himself to the production of motor vehicles as early as 1898. The business flourished splendidly and the company consolidated its reputation in the still very young German automotive history. With its good reputation, Stoewer made its way on the automotive market in the 1920s and 1930s.

In 1936, Karl Trefz replaced the previous Managing Director Hoyler. Under his leadership, two new passenger cars were created, which were presented to the public at the trade fair in Berin in 1937 – the type ‘Sedina’ and ‘Arkona’. While the Sedina came with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine with an output of 60 hp, the Arkona was equipped with a 3.6 liter six-cylinder drive with 80 hp. Except its engines, the two models shared a large number of components, which led to great cost savings in production. The Arkona corresponded to the idea of a suitable mid-range car for the newly built motorways. It was comfortable and with a maximum speed of 140 km/h it also allowed traveling at a high pace. The bodywork design met the taste of time and was mostly done by the Berlin-based company Buhne, but also the Dresden-based company Gläser was commissioned to fulfill orders.

Of the two related models, the Sedina proved to be the more popular model. After all, a total of 924 copies ran off the production line, while the Arkona only reached a total number of 201 or 210 copies – most probably over the years transposed numbers provided two different production figures. It can be assumed that the management in Szeczecin hoped for a much better response for the Arkona.