Sachs 1
The Sachs 1 was a prototype from Fichtel und Sachs AG for a small car for city trips that was supposed to be economical, tiny, agile and yet spacious.
The idea for the Sachs 1 arose in 1973 during the first oil crisis and was intended to open up new areas of business. Furthermore, new areas of application for the rotary engine should be found. which was built by Fichtel and Sachs under license for use in motorcycles and motor gliders. The idea of Playboy and board member Gunter Sachs to build a beach buggy for the beaches of the Côte d'Azur met with rejection.
The Sachs 1 was presented to the company management in 1975 under the strictest of secrecy and was intended solely as a technology carrier. It remained a prototype. The body was manufactured by Porsche , with a rotary engine serving as drive.
The small car program was stopped in 1976. The license fees for the Wankel engine were too high and endangered the economic success of the vehicle. The general poor market penetration of rotary engines was also very low and the oil price normalized, which led to increased demand for larger vehicles.
Another reason why the production of the Sachs 1 was never started was that by manufacturing automobiles, Sachs would have made itself a competitor to its customers from the supplier activity. In the long term, the customers supplied would have changed supplier and Sachs would have canceled all orders.
Technical specifications
- Engine: Wankel engine
- Year of construction: 1975
- Seats: 3 (front)
- Weight: 550 kg
- Number of pieces: 1