Rusty But Trusty

Welcome back to the wonderful and sometimes weird world of European post-war cars. The Borgward Isabella, as mentioned here before, was a middle-class sedan that was slated to fill the gap in between everyman cars like Volkswagen and Opel, and the upper class of Mercedes-Benz and perhaps Glas. As an entry-luxury car, it faced one significant competitor – BMW. And that well-connected upstart was ultimately implicated in political conspiracies whose authors suggest that the government’s failure to continue to sustain them was due to the influence of BMW’s backers. Anyhow, for a while there they had some interesting cars that were well-engineered and provided sporting (for the time) performance combined with the austere German interpretation of post-war luxury. Have a look at this 1958 Borgward Isabella Kombi for sale for $2500 in Stanwood, WA.

Far cleaner than the example in Vancouver that’s been for sale for months, this car looks to have had the sort of sympathetic storage you’d hope your project car has had. As a result, it shows some scratches, dirt, and dust, but the overall finish seems like a thorough cleaning might get you pretty far. What little can be seen of the interior also looks good – no sunbaked, torn up seats like you’d expect in a western state car. It’s said to be in good condition and to have run last year – does that mean December last year, or January? Either way, that gives hope the engine is not seized, and perhaps a call would yield some more detail on how it ran. According to the seller, it’s better than a VW, so apparently Carl’s marketing message is still getting through.

Is that too common and boring for you? Is a Fiat Multipla or 850/900 van too boring for you? Well step right up, sir, because we’ve got a great car for you today. Powered by a 596cc overhead cam twin putting out 24hp to move 1370 lb., it’s the Lloyd LT600! If you’ve hungered for a rare van to ferry around your scooters, car parts, or medium sized dogs, check out this 1960 Lloyd LT600 van for sale for $3900 in Oswego, OR.

So it has surface rust, and perhaps a little in the rockers, but overall it looks quite solid. Perhaps because of its microcar appearance, it actually looks older than its sibling above. Although the seller describes it as a two-stroke, all 600 Lloyds were four-stroke engines. It is said to be complete, and the interior features wooden ribbing supporting a steel skin, and even a dash seemingly carved from a solid chunk of wood (or perhaps made to look so). The manual column shifter completes the post-war European experience.

You’ll notice various trim bits, lights, etc. are missing, but the van is said to be mostly complete, including such important bits as the engine. It also comes with various papers, including a manual and parts book, and probably the obligatory box of random parts, some from completely different cars, which the seller can’t bring himself to dump. And if that doesn’t have you sold, well, who can resist a cargo van with suicide doors?

Tags: borgward, combi, Feature, german, isabella, lloyd, lt600, station wagon, van

This entry was posted on May 23, 2014 at 2:32 pm and is filed under Feature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.