Cars and Races: RitzSite.net

Car of the Month - October 2008

Denzel_WD_1300_Sport_Super_1956

Denzel WD 1300 Sport Super - competition roadster body - manufactured in 1956

Austria is an Alpine country in the middle of Europe, bordering on Germany and Switzerland, with an interesting history in car manufacture. Most of that took place before the second World War with marques like Austro-Daimler, Gräf & Stift and Steyr. The character and style of these cars was sort of a mix between German and Swiss products: well engineered and thought trough, stately and with a distinct preference for durability. Given the mountainous circumstances and the slightly more frivolous nature of Austrians the locally produced cars often were more powerful and sporting than what their neighbors offered.
After World War 2 Austria was destitute and vehicle manufacture was started up again hesitantly with an emphasis on commercial vehicles. There were two men however who saw a market for sports cars in those desolate circumstances: Ferdinand Porsche and Wolfgang Denzel. Porsche had worked for Austro-Daimler and became famous as the designer of the KdF-wagen for the German regime, which subsequently became the popular Volkswagen. He had settled himself in the Austrian town of Gmünd with the ambition to make a sports car based on the Volkswagen platform. Wolfgang Denzel was a well-known motorcycle racer and BMW dealer who had met Porsche during the war and shared his ambition. When the war was over and it became clear that Porsche wouldn't include Denzel in his plans, Denzel set out on his own in Vienna. Porsche soon left for Stuttgart, Germany, while Denzel continued small scale production in Austria for about a decade.
The first Denzel appeared in 1949 and was based on the chassis of the "Kübelwagen", the Volkswagen-based military all-terrain vehicle which was used by the German army during the war and was around in abundance during the post-war era. It was fitted with a simple streamlined open body made of wood and vinyl. A small experimental series of 12 cars was manufactured which attracted attention for its surprising performance thanks to the extremely lightweight construction. This promising start lead to a production model in 1950, now with an all steel body and the added luxury of doors. Still on the second hand Kübelwagen chassis it was powered by a rear mounted and air-cooled 1100 cc 4-cylinder boxer engine which was tuned by Denzel to produce 33 hp and propelled the 930 kg car to a maximum speed of 135 kph. This came near to what the contemporary Porsche 356-1100 had to offer, though that was a closed and more luxurious design.
Volkswagen didn't approve of the competition to the Porsche and refused to offer complete components to Denzel. So as a next step up Denzel needed to develop its own chassis. That was introduced in 1952 in the new 1300 Sport model. By many this model is regarded as the first true Denzel, as the previous models were more like coachbuilt Volkswagens. It had a rigid tubular chassis with a tuned 1300 cc Volkswagen engine in the rear. At first the attractive open body was made of steel but soon it was replaced by an aluminum version to reduce weight. At 580 kg and 53 hp at 4750 rpm it could reach a top speed of 150 kph and offered the Porsche 356-1300 some serious opposition. The following year an even more potent version appeared: the 1300 Sport Super (or Serien Super) of which the engine was extensively revised by Denzel. It now produced 65 hp at 5400 rpm and pushed the car to 160 kph, similar to the performance of the Porsche 356-1300 Super.
Another Porsche beater followed in the form of the 1500 Sport International, the ultimate Denzel with 85 hp and over 165 kph and placed against the Porsche 356-1500 Super/1600 Super. A last Denzel version was introduced in 1956 as the coupé, in fact a regular cabriolet body fitted with an elegant hardtop, completing the range of convertible and competition roadster models. Production of the Denzel models continued until 1959 when two things made Wolfgang Denzel decide to cease car production. First was his involvement in developing the BMW 700 model, a contract awarded to his company in 1958 and taking up much time and resources. The second was the conclusion that competing with Porsche just wasn't profitable anymore. Denzel went on as a successful car dealer until this day, while the Steyr-Puch concern was left to fly the flag for Austrian car production, mostly with Fiat models.

Denzel sports cars were quite successful in competition with as best known achievements the outright victory in the 1954 Coupe des Alpes and a class victory in the 1954 Austrian Alpenfahrt, a gruelling 1500 km race over though mountain roads. They were also raced competitively on European and American circuits and hillclimb events, usually giving Porsches a run for their money. Production was limited and is estimated at a total of not more than 300 cars and a large part of that was exported, especially to the USA where it was acclaimed for having better acceleration than a regular Porsche.
An interesting spin-off from the sports car production were the Denzel tuning kits for the 1300 and 1500 cc Volkswagen engines. These kits included most major components like special crankshafts, pistons, manifolds and dual port cylinder heads. The parts were precisely machined from aluminum alloy and of very high quality which made them quite expensive. Top class beach buggies and other Volkswagen derivatives were fitted with these go faster kits, though they were less popular than the Okrasa and Judson kits because of their price and the stress which the power increase inflicted on the standard Beetle chassis.
Nowadays its extremely rare to find a Denzel, maybe a few dozen are left scattered around the world. They're mostly valued by Volkswagen enthusiasts who regard them as the ultimate Beetle derivative. Generally a Denzel is appreciated considerably less than a comparable Porsche model but in reality these cars are traded between enthusiasts which makes it hard to put a price tag on them. If a Porsche is to common for you but you like the air-cooled rear engine lay-out with added excitement then maybe a Denzel is a more attractive option, if you can find one...