Sunroad

Walz and Kessler Automobil-Montage GmbH
legal form	Company with limited liability
founding	1986
resolution	?
Seat	Dusslingen , Germany
management	Günter Walz Hubert Kessler
Branch	Automobile manufacturer

One of the first Sunroad Classic - the private vehicle of company founder Kessler.

Sunroad was a German car brand.

Brand history

The company Walz und Kessler Automobil-Montage GmbH , headquartered in Dußlingen, began producing automobiles in 1986 under the direction of Günter Walz and Hubert Kessler - primarily in a production hall in Albstadt-Lautlingen. Walz was the technician and automotive specialist as well as a friend of the General Motors brands , Kessler had experience in the production of modern plastics and was a businessman in the duo. Together they wanted to build high-quality and individual retro vehicles with the classic British roadster driving experience. The name of the first and only product was Sunroad Classic - Sunroad was a contraction of the English terms for "sun" and "road". In contemporary catalogs the "Sunroad Classic" was also referred to and offered as Parsifal . It is not known when production ended. A former marketing service provider estimates that a maximum of 15–20 vehicles were produced at W&K.

vehicles

There were initially the versions "Standard N" and "de Luxe" with 75 or 100 hp. Later also a sporty and noble version with a 3-liter engine and 156 hp for around 80,000 DM. The body of the roadster was a replica of the MG TD . Unlike many kit cars of that time, the Sunroad was not based on a VW Beetle chassis with a rear engine, but had its own frame with a front engine. The open body was mounted on the steel box frame developed by W & K itself and was made of GRP . The vehicle was also not sold as a kit car, but only sold as a whole. The drive concept was based on the classic roadster concept: longitudinally installed front engine with rear drive. In-line four-cylinder engines and in-line six-cylinder engines from General Motors or Opel with 1.8 to 3 liters displacement and 75 to 156 hp were installed . Axles, transmissions and drivetrains also came from the GM group . Thanks to its low weight and a very low center of gravity, the vehicle had a very good, albeit very hard, road holding and impressive performance. The roadsters had a spartan folding roof, no side panels over the doors, folding engine hoods open at the sides, very direct steering and a tendency to oversteer ; In a contemporary kit-car magazine, a tester reported "crazy speeds" at which the Parsifal could be moved through curves.

Appearances in the cinema

A Parsifal from W & K played a role as a 1930s roadster in the multi-award-winning film "An Olympic Summer" (1993). The director Gordian Maugg borrowed a two-tone car for the film - in it the actress Verena Plangger then drove down a winding road through a juniper heath in the Olympic year 1936.

literature

• Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 , chapter Sunroad.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 , chapter Sunroad.