Brütsch (automobile manufacturer)

Brütsch is the name of a former German manufacturer of small cars . Egon Brütsch (1904–1988), son of a successful stocking manufacturer in Stuttgart , was a motorcycle and automobile racing driver . From 1951 he built small cars with plastic bodies.

From 1929 to 1931 Brütsch competed in motorcycle races and between 1935 and 1950 he took part in races, some of which he had built himself. At the beginning of the 1950s, he began building miniature cars with plastic bodies. The first vehicle he built was a 1: 2 scale Maserati ; a children's car for the price of DM 750. After giving up the car construction, Egon Brütsch began building small plastic houses in spherical shape and other prefabricated houses; He is considered one of the pioneers in the construction of prefabricated houses in wood composite construction . He has been granted several patents on the connection technology for prefabricated house elements.

Prototypes from 1951

The first prototypes were the Hermit , the 400 and the Dwarf . It was a single-seat, three-wheeled vehicle with single-cylinder two-stroke engines from 77 to 125 cm³, two front wheels, a length of 2000 mm, a width of 1200 mm and a weight of around 100 kg.

Brütsch 200 sparrow

The sparrow was an open three-seater with three wheels (one rear wheel) and a 200 cm³ Fichtel & Sachs engine. Only three of the 90 km / h car were built. In Switzerland , the vehicle factory Wollerau (formerly A. Grünhut & Co.) built the Spatz as a Belcar under license. Another licensee was Harald Friedrich GmbH. Because of many technical deficiencies, there was a legal dispute between Brütsch and Friedrich, which Brütsch lost (see also Spatz ).

Brütsch dwarf 1955–1957

The dwarf was a three-wheeled open two-seater with a 200 cc engine. It was also made under license in France and sold under the name Avolette . Twelve vehicles were built in Germany.

Brütsch dwarf single seater

The body of this three-wheeled single-seater consisted of two fiberglass shells , the lower one was mounted on a box frame, the upper one had a curved windshield. The seam between the two shells was provided with a wide decorative strip called a bumper. The seat was arranged in the middle, to the left and right there were storage compartments, the steering wheel could be removed to get in. The engine installed in the rear was accessible from the outside, the engine was intended to be motorcycle engines between 75 and 125 cm³. A DKW Hobby engine with centrifugal clutch and continuously variable transmission was installed in a pre-production vehicle. The front wheels were steered with a rack and pinion steering system and braked with a cable brake. The maximum speed was given as 65 km / h. This vehicle was to be built as an open sports and as a coupé version and offered for 1495 DM . Four vehicles were built.

Brütsch Mopetta 1956–1958

Brütsch Mopetta from 1957

→ Main article : Brütsch Mopetta

The Mopetta was a single-seat tricycle with a 50 cc ILO V-50 engine. The Frankfurt Opel dealer Georg von Opel wanted to have the vehicle manufactured by Horex under license . This plan could not be realized. A total of 14 vehicles were built, of which, according to individual sources, five are still preserved today; however, other sources give different figures. As one of the smallest automobiles of all time, it is now a particularly sought-after collector's item.

Brütsch Rollera 1956–1958

Single-seat tricycle with 100 cc engine from Fichtel & Sachs. Eight vehicles built. Also built under license in France.

Brütsch buzzard 1956–1958

Open two-seater with three wheels and a 200 cm³ Fichtel & Sachs engine. Built eleven pieces.

Brütsch Arrow 1956–1958

Open four-wheeled two-seater with a 400 cm³ Lloyd engine, top speed 110 km / h. Eight pieces built.

Brütsch V2 1956–1958

Brütsch V2 from 1957

Brütsch V2 from 1957

Open four-wheeled two-seater, optionally with 100 cm³ Sachs engine or 250 cm³ Maico engine. Top up to 100 km / h. Twelve pieces built.

Brütsch V2-N

As above, but with doors and 500 cc two-cylinder four-stroke engine from the Fiat Nuova 500 . Top 125 km / h. This model was developed for a French licensee of it as V 2 N offered. However, he stopped production after a year. Only three pieces built in Germany.

The last automobile prototype that Brütsch developed was a coupé based on the Ford Taunus 12M .

literature

• Hanns Peter Rosellen : German small cars after 1945 - loved, praised and unforgotten . Weltbild Verlag, Augsburg 1991, ISBN 3-89350-040-5 , pp. 176 to 197.
• Automobilchronik (magazine), issue 5/1977.

Web links

Commons : Brütsch  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Comprehensive report on the racing cars driven by Egon Brütsch and the cars he designed on the oppositelock.kinja.com web portal with many pictures , accessed on January 5, 2017 (English).
• Pictures of a Brütsch Mopetta (vehicle collection Eppelheim)
• Private page about all Brütsch vehicles ( memento from March 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
• Egon Brütsch's Egg Cars (Text42)
• Mentioned in the SWR documentary about car manufacturers in southwest Germany

Individual evidence

1. ^ Egon Brütsch - the prototype builder , Zwischengas.com, December 11, 2016
2. ^ Villingen-Schwenningen: Südwestmesse site became the last refuge , Black Forest Bote , March 10, 2018
3. ^ Automobile and Motorcycle Chronicle, Issue 5/77, pp. 11-17 and 37
4. ↑ TV report of June 22nd, 2008 in RTL2 Grip - Das Motormagazin June 22nd, 2008 6:00 pm  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.