Borgward Isabella

Infobox Automobile


name = Borgward Isabella
manufacturer = Carl F. W. Borgward GmbH
production = June 1954 - 1962
predecessor = Borgward Hansa 1800
successor =
body_style = 2 door saloon, estate, cabriolet, coupe
engine = 1493 cc straight-4
layout=FR layout
transmission = 4 speed manual
length = Auto mm|4390
width = Auto mm|1705
height = Auto mm|1480
weight = Auto kg|1010
wheelbase = Auto mm|2600cite book |last=Gloor |first=Roger |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Alle Autos der 50er Jahre 1945 - 1960|year=1. Auflage 2007 |publisher=Motorbuch Verlag |location=Stuttgart |id=ISBN 978-3-613-02808-1]
track =
related =
similar =
designer =

The Borgward Isabella is a medium sized two door saloon that was manufactured by the Bremen based auto-manufacturer Carl F. W. Borgward GmbH between 1954 and 1962. Initially the car was badged, like its predecessor, as the Hansa 1500, but within the company it was known from the beginning by the code name, Isabella, and cars produced after 1957 bore the ‘Isabella’ name, inscribed eye catchingly within the rhombus at the centre of the front grill: in retrospect the car produced from 1954 is known as the Isabella to differentiate it from the (first) Hansa 1500/1800 which the company produced between 1949 and 1954.

Despite its aspirational positioning in the marketplace, the Isabella had a smaller engine (and was marginally shorter) than its immediate predecessor. Late in 1952 the firm had launched their six cylinder Hansa 2400 model. The larger car never found many buyers; but in 1954 it made commercial sense to keep the two models from competing too directly with one another.

The Isabella at launch

11,150 Isabellas were produced in 1954, an early indicator that commercially this would be the most successful Borgward ever. The early cars enjoyed an enthusiastic reception in the market place. Unfortunately early models were afflicted by teething troubles, reflecting a rushed development schedule, and the marketplace would later prove unforgiving as Borgward's Stuttgart based rival, Daimler-Benz demonstrated that new models did not have to involve customers in such problems.

The advertised launch price of DM 7,265 was higher than that of competitor family sedans from Opel and Ford, but significantly less than Mercedes Benz was asking for their 180 model. Unlike the Mercedes 180 however, the Isabella was only delivered as a two-door version.

The Isabella was constructed without a separate chassis, applying the monocoque technique which during the 1950s was becoming the norm. Like its predecessor, the car was designed with a modern three box form, but the line of the Isabella was more curvaceous than that of the first Hansa, and the car’s body made greater use of chrome trim.

The Isabella featured a swing axel at the back: it was supported by coil springs on all four wheels. The four cylinder 1493 cc engine had a claimed power output of 60 bhp, and was connected by means of a then innovative hydraulic clutch to the four speed full synchromesh gear box. Gear changes were effected by means of a column mounted lever.

Variants

A year after presenting the saloon, Borgward presented the Isabella estate(Combi).

Also introduced in 1955 was a two door cabriolet, known as the Isabella TS and featuring a more powerful 75 bhp motor. Production of the cabriolet was contracted to the firm Karl Deutsch in Cologne: converting an early monocoque design to a cabriolet necessitated considerable modification in order to achieve the necessary structural rigidity, and the resulting cost was reflected in a much higher selling price for this version.

Initial sales volumes were not maintained. Responding to a sales decline of almost a third between 1955 and 1956, Carl Borgward decided to produce a more beautiful Isabella with a shortened roof line. The Borgward Isabella Coupé was developed, and the four hand built prototypes were well received by the press. Borgward gave one of these prototypes to his wife, Elizabeth, who would continue to drive it into the 1980s. Commercial production of the coupé, powered by the more powerful TS version of the engine first seen in the cabriolet, commenced in January 1957. The coupe appears to have achieved it’s marketing objective of further distancing the Isabella’s image from similarly sized competitors from Opel and Ford. By 1958 the more powerful 75 bhp TS motor had also found its way into the more upmarket Isabella saloon and estate versions(Combi).

The Isabella in competition

English Racing driver and tuner Bill Blydenstein raced a Borgward Isabella in the 1950's with some success.

The end

At the time of Borgward’s controversial bankruptcy in 1961 the firm carried a substantial stock of unsold Isabellas. Nevertheless, the model's production at the Bremen plant continued until 1962, suggesting that overstocking had not been restricted to finished vehicles. By the end, 202,862 Isabellas had rolled off the Borgward production line.

The model also enjoyed a brief afterlife: the production line was sold and shipped to Mexico where later during the 1960s more Isabellas were produced. Back in the German market, BMW’s stylish new 1500, launched by the Bavarians in 1961, convincingly filled the niche vacated by the Isabella, and was credited by at least one commentator with having rescued BMW itself from insolvency.

Sources and further reading

* Peter Kurze: „Autos aus Bremen“, Band 3, Verlag Peter Kurze, Bremen 2001, ISBN 3980697738
* Völker, Heinrich: Der Weg zur Borgward Isabella - Unbekanntes aus der Versuchsabteilung - Bremen: Verlag Peter Kurze 2003 – ISBN 978-3-927485-27-3
* Georg Schmidt: „Borgward“, Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3879436797
* „Motor-Klassik“, Heft 1/2004, Vereinigte Motor-Verlage, Stuttgart