Ambi Budd

Ambi Budd was a company founded by Edward Gowen Budd (28 December 1870 in Smyrna/Delaware – 20 November 1946 in Pennsylvania) in Philadelphia, USA. Budd studied at the University of Pennsylvania and his first work was at a company making automobile wheels from pressed steel raster then casting. The steel-shaping technology progressed rapidly at the time and soon the company also made parts like doors and front walls in pressed steel. In 1912, Budd started his own company after he found out how to make complex shaped parts in pressed steel. The company's chief engineer was Joseph Ledwinka, a relative of Hans Ledwinka. The company managed to land several large orders like an all-steel body for Buick and 2000 Oakland superstructures. Later Budd also made bodies for Cadillac, Chrysler, Delage, Citroën, Mercedes, Morris and Nash as well as the doors of the Ford Model T. In 1916 Budd also started the Budd Wheel Company making wheels for Dodge. In 1935 they made ventilated disc brakes, first for racing, but later also for passenger cars.

Due to the high demand of parts for Ford Model T and A, the company started another factory in Detroit in 1925.

Louis Renault used Budd patents in France, but was sued in Germany and was forced to pay royalties. Other license users were Peugeot, SIMCA, Tatra, Austin, and FIAT.

In 1925 William Morris visited the Budd factory and when he returned home he started the Pressed Steel Company in Coventry. In Germany Budd worked with Arthur Müller and set up a steel pressing plant in the old Rumpler factory and quickly became the leading supplier of pressed-steel components. That Budd owned 26% of the Adler stock and they were located next door to the German assembly plant for Chrysler probably helped. [http://www.kabriolett.com/karmann/history/history.htm] Budd also supplied bodies for early BMWs as well as German Fords. In 1943, the company had to move production underground due to bomb attacks from the allied air forces. They also made parts for the Focke Wulf fighters. They also made bodies for the Volkswagen Kübelwagen and Schwimmwagen. The Berlin plants were completely destroyed by bombing during WW2. After the war, the Budd plant ended up in the Soviet sector. The machines and tools were dismantled and most of them shipped to the Soviet Union. In the USA, Budd made shell and bomb casings and helmets during the war.

In 1962 they made a prototype called XR-400 powered by a convert|270|hp|abbr=on V8 engine. However the design was rejected by AMC.

The company merged with Thyssen AG and Krupp AG in 1999 becoming a part of ThyssenKrupp.

External links

* [http://website.webcenter.lycos.de/www.fomcc.de/fordsetzung/04_1/ambibudd.htm Ford's Karosserieschneider (Teil 9) - Ambi-Budd]
* [http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/bv/budd.htm Canadian Driver: Pioneer of the All-Steel Automobile Body: Edward G. Budd]