Hebmüller

The body works Hebmüller sons Joseph, known in short form " bodywork Hebmüller ", was a manufacturer of vehicle bodies for a variety of automotive brands. Hebmüller Joseph ( born September 29, 1865 in Osznaggern; † January 2, 1919 ) had fallen into bankruptcy enterprise of a coach builder in Barmen ( today Wuppertal) adopted in 1889 and continued under his name.

History

The beginnings of the company

Joseph Hebmüller came from a farm in the former East Prussia, was trained as a wheelwright and came as a young man first to Elberfeld (now Wuppertal to ) before he found a job at the car maker Sauer in Barmen. Sauer went bankrupt, prompting Hebmüller on 18 October 1889 took over the business.

Joseph Hebmüller led his company as a traditional family business with initially about ten, in the following years up to 20 employees. One of the fellows was on his wanderings Friedrich Ebert, who later became President of the Reich. Hebmüller and his wife Elisabeth, née Fischbacher (* October 10, 1867; † October 7, 1948 ) had four sons, who were trained in accordance with operational requirements. They were wheelwrights, carriage blacksmith and saddler, and received a business education.

Beginning of a new era

After the death of the founder in 1919 the sons intensified the production of automobile bodies, which had just begun. They designed and built bodies, including a limo for a Fiat chassis and a delivery structure for the Ford T model. The economic situation developed positively, so that they could work the 1924 II and 1936 III open the work in Wülfrath.

The Plant II took the brothers Hebmüller of the financially troubled carmaker Wilhelm Körting for which they had built bodies. Because of the lower wage levels in Wülfrath this work was the main production plant, while in Barmen repairs were carried out. Orders came in the 1920s, among other things, by Austro -Daimler in Vienna, FN in Belgium and Duerkopp in Bielefeld, which started mastered the chassis on which Hebmüller produced high-quality structures, either singly or in small series.

Since the 1930s Hebmüller also worked for large-scale manufacturers such as Ford and Opel, who built in Wülfrath their convertibles and open sports car in part.

The VW Cabriolet Hebmüller

Probably the most famous product of Hebmüller was a two-seat convertible on the platform of the Volkswagen Type 1, more 136 copies exist of the 2009. Less well known is the open four-seater police emergency vehicle, which was also built on the basis of the VW Type 1.

1948 Hebmüller made ​​three prototypes of the two -seater convertible with a fully retractable soft top and an elegantly curved, elongated tail. The Volkswagen factory ordered 2000 units of this car, the beginning of the series production is admitted 1949 good sales despite the high price of 7,500.00 DM. In 1950, the price was lowered to 6950.00 DM. The Hebmüller - Cabriolet was delivered preferably in two-tone paint black / red or black / ivory. Trim stressed the stretched line, and the interior corresponded to high expectations.

Fire disaster and comparison

Instead of the planned 2000 VW Cabriolet presented Hebmüller ago only 696 pieces, since a major fire on July 23, 1949 destroyed the production facilities. The completed reconstruction in 1951 and the consequent modernization of production higher than the financial strength of the company, since the total financial requirement was not covered by the insurance and the banks announced despite good order situation the loans. As a result, the economic situation deteriorated in such a way that the company, which also built convertibles for Borgward, DKW and other companies, in May 1952 applied for the comparison and then stopped operating with a staff of over 700 employees. From residual stocks of components, the body shop Karmann in Osnabrück made ​​then twelve or 14 VW Hebmüller convertible.

Approximately one year leased Vidal & Sohn of Hamburg -Harburg the work, which was then sold to Ford.

The VW Hebmüller - Cabriolet as a classic car

The VW Hebmüller - Cabriolet is today a sought vehicle oldtimer on the market much higher prices achieved than the standard versions of the Beetle. In 2010, quoted prices for used cars in excess of 60,000 euros for Hebmüller Cabriolet in excellent condition.