Stuttgart body plant Reutter
The Stuttgarter Karosseriewerk Reutter & Co. GmbH was a German wheelwright and manufacturer of car bodies , which was based in Stuttgart .
history
The company was founded in 1906 by master saddler Wilhelm Reutter (1874–1939). In 1909 his brother Albert Reutter joined the company as a partner and commercial director. In 1910 the company traded under the name of "Stuttgarter Karosseriewerk Reutter & Co, owner W. & A. Reutter".
The Stuttgart bodywork plant applied for numerous patents, including a. on July 24, 1909 patent no. 225555 for a "folding top with a canopy, especially for motor vehicles". This "reformed body" was thus a constructive forerunner of the convertible. Until the Second World War, Reutter built elegant and luxurious bodies on the chassis of almost all renowned German car manufacturers on behalf of customers: Adler, Benz, BMW, Daimler / Daimler-Benz, Dixi, Horch, Maybach, NSU, Opel. Foreign car manufacturers also had bodies for their vehicles manufactured by Reutter. a. Ansaldo, Austro-Daimler, Bugatti, Buick, Cadillac, Chrysler, Fiat, La Salle.
Since the late 1920s, the Stuttgart body shop has been producing various Wanderer bodies up to the Wanderer W 24 , the first large-scale order for Auto-Union AG. The wood / steel mixed construction made larger series possible, and so Reutter was able to produce special and series bodies for many automobile manufacturers , above all Wanderer. In 1937 a branch was opened in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen , mainly for the production of Wanderer W24 bodies. A total of 900 employees built up to 33 bodies a day.
In addition, the first Volkswagen forerunners (Porsche Type 12 based on Zündapp and Type 32 (NSU)), as well as the Volkswagen prototypes of the VW 303 series and, in 1938, the VW 38 series, were made here from 1932 onwards a partnership with Porsche for the production of the Porsche 356 sports car bodies . From 1950 to 1963, Reutter built coupé and convertible bodies for over 60,000 vehicles of the legendary sports car. Reutter repeatedly built prototypes and models for Porsche based on 356; From 1961 they worked together with their neighbor in Zuffenhausen on the successor "T8", which came onto the market in 1963 as the "901" and was finally renamed "911" in 1964.
Further individual orders in the post-war years were e.g. B. the development of the prototype BMW 501 and the conversion of the Citroën DS 19 with a special convertible top.
After the bodyworks in Zuffenhausen were sold to Porsche on December 1, 1963, "Recaro GmbH & Co." (Reutter Carosserie), which emerged from "Recaro AG", which was founded in Switzerland in 1957, kept its headquarters in the main plant in Stuttgart until it was sold at the end of 1969 the Augustenstrasse. In addition to complete car seats , seat rails , reclining seat fittings and neck rests were built there. The result was the RECARO sports seat, which has become a quality concept recognized worldwide.
literature
- Werner Oswald : German Cars Volume 2 - 1920-1945 . 2nd new edition, Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-613-02170-6
- Uta & Helmut Jung: Stuttgart body plant Reutter. From the reform body to the Porsche 356 . Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2006, ISBN 978-3-7688-1829-2
- Frank Jung: Porsche 356 - made by Reutter . Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2011, ISBN 978-3-7688-3270-0