A beach mystery

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Today I'd like to share a photo from my collection of "Hanomag" pictures which shows a hitherto unknown 2-seater convertible based on the company's 6-cylinder "Sturm" model (built from 1934 onwards). The photo was taken in August 1936 at the Baltic sea where the car's owners - people from the Rhineland according to the number plate - must have spent their holidays.

For those, who didn't associate the engineering company Hanomag (from Hannover in Lower Saxony) with motorcars: Actually, the company's car manufacturing activities ran alongside the core business, hence only approx. 95,000 cars were made between 1925 and 1941. While far from being innovative Hanomag cars had a good reputation for their sturdiness and the large number of survivors after the war stands testament to their sound construction and high build quality.

The most impressive cars ever built by Hanomag were the huge "Sturm" sedans which were introduced in 1934 and featured 6-cylinder engines for the first time in the company's history. Usually, they were equipped with rather unspectacular, yet well-proportioned bodies supplied by Ambi-Budd in Berlin.

However, also elegant convertible versions of the Hanomag "Sturm" were available. The most extravagant one was probably the beautiful roadster built by Hebmüller in 1936/37 which is well-documented both in books and on the internet.

The car in my photo bears a certain resemblance to that roadster, in particular the front is very similar, even if the distinctive Hanomag badge is mounted right on top of the radiator cowling rather than at the front of the grille. The car in my photo lacks the "Sturm" lettering, but obviously not all Hanomag buyers opted for having mounted the respective name like "Rekord" or "Sturm" on the front of their cars.

What is strikingly different, though, are the proportions of the windshield, the window pillars and the lateral body lines. The car in the photo also lacks the cutout in the door that is typical for the roadster body. The gently swinging line of the waistline is emphasized by a decorative strip ending with a comet's tail - very nice!

Now, I'm eager to know, if anyone has ever seen this particular convertible body before. My gut-feeling tells me, it could also be manufactured by Hebmüller, but I couldn't find a perfect match to date...

Photos and words by Michael Schlenger.

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