Wenger bodywork / vehicle construction

Car body A. Wenger & Cie.
legal form	Limited partnership
founding	1919
Seat	Basel , Switzerland
management	Arno Wenger
Website	www.carrosserie-wenger.ch

Company premises in the early days

Commercial vehicle with flatbed for the company Fleig

Company vehicle for the Maggi company

Accidental damage to a taxi

Location Allschwilerstrasse

Klingentalstrasse location

The A. Wenger & Cie. is a Swiss family company that is based in Basel and is privately owned by the fourth generation. The company was founded in 1919 as a wagon factory by Dominique Wenger.

In the founding years, the company was known for truck interiors and superstructures. Later saddlery work , the installation of sunroofs , the conversion of cars to delivery vans and the construction of steel cabins for off-road vehicles were added. The company now focuses on the areas of bodywork and vehicle construction. Wenger is the only remaining company in Basel that manufactures vehicle bodies and one of the largest body shops in the Basel region.

history

1910s to 1940s

Dominique Wenger founded his own company after graduating as a Wagner in Paris and spending a few years traveling as a master wagoner. He gained the wealth of experience for the start-up project as a manager in a wagon workshop in Strasbourg and later in a bodywork company as head of vehicle construction in Bellinzona . During the First World War, the demand for commercial vehicles increased rapidly, as the road developed rapidly alongside the classic transport routes such as shipping or rail. Switzerland benefited from this development - and as a neutral country independent of the war. They transported a lot of war material abroad with commercial vehicles or exported trucks to the surrounding countries. The truck manufacturer Saurer , who was able to massively increase its production , also noticed this trend . In 1914, Saurer employed Dominique Wenger as the first master wagoner in Arbon, now the most important truck manufacturer in Switzerland. Until then, the company only produced the mechanics and the mobile chassis with engine for trucks. With the experienced master wagoner Dominique Wenger, however, new opportunities arose, in particular in the sale of complete commercial vehicles with superstructures according to customer requirements.

The end of the war led to a decline in production in Switzerland. Dominique Wenger decided in 1919 to set up a wagon factory as his own company in the Basel location. The start-up company had its premises on Hochstrasse in Basel, behind the SBB train station , where the UBS training center is now. In 1924 Wenger moved into the newly purchased workshops at Allschwilerstrasse 15 in the Gotthelf district . A bodywork shop , a car painting department , a car upholstery shop and vehicle construction were soon attached to the wagon shop . The foundations of the company under the direction of Dominique Wenger were the conversion of older passenger cars to delivery vans , new constructions of limousine bodies with all the interior fittings as well as delivery and truck bodies. Truck cabs and bridge superstructures were also built according to Dominique Wenger's plans. The military was an important customer, especially during the crisis years. It notes passenger car bodies for Martini and Sizaire as well as a very sporty roadster on the chassis of the Salmson VAL 3 "Grand Sport" from 1924, which was successful in the Voiturette class .

1950s to 1970s

In the 1950s, Maurice Wenger took over the company with his brother René Wenger. Maurice Wenger, a qualified master saddler, and René Wenger, a businessman, shared the areas of responsibility. At that time, after the Second World War, the company manufactured convertible tops, sunroofs based on its own patent and interior upholstery. Between 1947 and 1984 Wenger manufactured over 1,000 steel cabin superstructures for the open jeep and off-road vehicles at the time. A large order with 30 cabins was delivered to a customer in Finland in the far north.

In 1958, an 80 ° burn-in cabin was put into operation on Allschwilerstrasse. Two more spray booths followed in 1970. The front of the company premises on Allschwilerstrasse was also visually modernized and provided with a large shop window to display quality work, vintage cars and custom-made products. There was also space for interesting vernissages and art exhibitions. The rented butcher shop owned by Bell AG , which supplied the Basel-Gotthelf district with its products, was also well known. In 1964, a bodywork shop with a car painting department was added at Klingentalstrasse 77 in Kleinbasel, and in 1971 the vehicle construction for heavy commercial vehicles in Reinach BL was added as additional company locations.

1980s to 2000s

Until the 1980s, the company employed up to 70 people under the management of César Weissen. The businessman was responsible for all three locations and carried out the integration of the Heimburger car body shop into the company in the 1990s.

With the purchase of the entire area at Klingentalstrasse 77 in 1984, the current location, the opportunity was created to bundle all of the company's services in one place in the future. After the Reinach location, the activities on the company premises on Allschwilerstrasse were completely relocated to the headquarters on Klingentalstrasse.

2000s until today

At the beginning of the new millennium, Ruedi Wenger, the third generation, introduced strict quality management into the company. The qualified body technician not only improved the environmentally friendly heat supply from IWB's district heating, but also modernized the electrical systems as well as the doors and windows. In addition to the new construction of the plumbing shop in 2002, the company moved into a new sales room and in 2004 into the new reception with an office and show area in the new building on Klingentalstrasse. During this time, certification as a VSCI Eurogarant company took place.

In 2009, on the company's 90th anniversary, Arno Wenger took over the management of what is now the only vehicle construction company in the city of Basel. The graduate business economist , who joined his father's company after completing his studies in 2004 and attending the Ferdinand Braun School for body and vehicle construction in Fulda, is responsible for the vehicle construction department in addition to the commercial management.

Body department

Plumbing work on car bodies was one of the company's main activities right from the start. Over the years, tops for limousines and saddlery were added. Today, in addition to accident repairs such as sheet metal, aluminum, plastic and glass repairs, painting and maintenance work are the main tasks of the bodywork area. All of this work is offered for cars and commercial vehicles.

Vehicle construction department

Established at Wenger: Monteverdi Sierra (1977–1982)

Vehicle construction has been an important part of the company's activities right from the start. While at the beginning mainly platform bodies were built, in the post-war period it was mainly off-road vehicle bodies that were in great demand. Later, in addition to smaller commercial vehicles, truck bodies were also on offer. Wenger focuses primarily on commercial vehicles with a total weight of 3.5 tonnes and, in addition to vehicle bodies, also offers trailers. In addition to normal one or two-axle trailers , these are semitrailers . The current spectrum of vehicle bodies ranges from tippers , bridges and flatbeds to tarpaulin and box bodies . Box bodies and box bodies are also manufactured for refrigerated vehicles.

For the public service the company offers z. B. Superstructures for municipal use. Police vehicles, prisoner transporters and vehicles for the border guard are also equipped. The expansion of fire fighting vehicles and the construction of swap bodies complete the range of services for the public sector.

The product range in the vehicle construction sector also includes vehicle interiors. Wenger offers a variety of shelving systems, workbenches, brackets and grids for securing the goods to be transported.

At times Wenger assembled complete vehicles for Automobile Monteverdi . A total of around 20 Monteverdi Sierra were made near Wenger.

literature

Donald Brun: 50 years of the Association of the Swiss Car Body Industry 1919-1969. Hallwag, Bern 1969, page 41 (production of the Salmson Sport 1923).
Schweizerischer Carrosserieverband VSCI (Ed.): Swiss Carrosseriegeschichte from 1919-1994: creative and safe. Huber, Frauenfeld 1994, page 78 (production of the Monteverdi 375S Berlineta).
Klaus Fischer: Fire engines in Switzerland. Verlag Technik, Berlin 2000, page 70.
Andres Furger: Carriages and sleighs in Switzerland. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 1993, page 288.
Ferdinand Hediger: Swiss Carrossiers - From the Beginnings to 1970. SwissClassics Publishing AG, Bäch SZ, Switzerland, 2013, ISBN 978-3-9524171-0-2 .