SHW car
The SHW car was a small car made by Schwäbische Hüttenwerke GmbH in 1925.
Sensational trade fair presentation
The Allgemeine Automobilzeitung described a vehicle prototype as a “very strange, novel and sensational small car design” that was presented at the Berlin Motor Show in November 1925 and met with great interest from the public because of its uncomplicated and at the same time modern design. Behind this almost forgotten new design was not a large German automobile company, but the Schwäbische Hüttenwerke GmbH (SHW), which was founded in 1921. The first few financial years of this young company were overshadowed by the consequences of rising inflation. The traditional business fields - iron foundry, roller casting and mechanical engineering - only made modest profits at that time, and so the management was forced to look for profitable investment projects, with the income from which the traditional and sometimes loss-making production areas could be financially supported.
Difficult decision making process
Against this background, in January 1924 the company acquired the majority of shares in Böblinger Werft AG, a former aircraft factory that had been converted to small engine production without success in the post-war period. SHW managing director Hermann von Rösch planned to build a steel mold foundry with an agricultural machinery factory in the well-preserved factory. On the other hand, Councilor of Commerce Paul Reusch (1868–1956), who, as CEO of Gutehoffnungshütte, was one of the co-shareholders of SHW, wanted to sell the block of shares quickly in order to improve the strained liquidity situation. Von Rösch was initially able to ignore the concerns and so began the short history of the Böblingen plant in 1924/25 . Initially, those involved had not thought of vehicle construction, but the designated works director Wunibald Kamm (1893–1966) - who after 1930 was one of the most influential German automobile designers - brought this idea and a corresponding test vehicle with him. However, the SHW car was born at an economically unfavorable time; there was a lack of affluent demand, service facilities and roads. In order to be able to survive economically, the manufacturers either concentrated on building expensive and luxurious models or they tried to appeal to a wide range of buyers through the production of inexpensive small cars. The SHW car that Kamm developed aimed in the second direction. It was a spartan, but sufficiently motorized small car, which was to be manufactured on the basis of inexpensive and therefore competitive series production.
Advanced construction
The young and unconventional team of experts who got to work in the Böblingen test workshop created a trend-setting design with front-wheel drive, a self-supporting light metal body, independent suspension and four-wheel braking system. While the car met with great approval from the experts and was highly praised, business concerns grew among the SHW shareholders. The high development costs, the high investment requirements up to the start of series production and, last but not least, the uncertain situation on the sales market led to the abandonment of agricultural machinery and automobile production and the liquidation of the plant in 1926. In the period that followed, Kamm, who had meanwhile worked in aircraft development, was unable to find an investor for his automobile project. His personal copy of the SHW car found its way into the holdings of the Deutsches Museum in 1937 . He later regretted not having worked more emphatically on the realization of this automobile project: “Some things were better for us then than they are today, especially the unsurpassed simplicity as the basis for the cheap construction. I am sorry that I did not advocate the introduction of this car even more tenaciously at the time [...] The Volkswagen would no longer have been necessary. "
literature
- Uwe Fliegauf: The Volkswagen would no longer have been necessary. The car project of the Schwäbische Hüttenwerke in Böblingen. In: Moments. Contributions to regional studies in Baden-Württemberg. Issue 2/2003, pp. 4–10.