CarBrandLogos archive · Borgward · 1949

BorgwardHansa 1500

West Germany's first genuinely new post-war car, and the shape of everything after it.

Photo: Quelle: Spurzem Fotograf: Lothar Spurzem · CC BY-SA 2.0 de

The story

A defining chapter in Borgward history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Borgward Hansa 1500, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Carl Borgward had his Bremen works bombed flat and spent the immediate post-war years in Allied custody, yet by October 1949 his company was building something none of the larger German manufacturers had managed: a completely new car rather than a warmed-over 1930s design. Everyone else — Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Opel — restarted with pre-war models. The Hansa 1500 arrived with a full-width slab-sided body, no separate wings, and headlamps set into the front panel, the style later called ponton, and it made the competition look a decade old overnight.

Borgward Hansa 1500Kombi,Bj.1952 · User Spurzem on de.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 2.0 de

Design and engineering

Under the skin it was conventional: a 1498 cc four-cylinder driving the rear wheels through a three-speed manual, later joined by a 1758 cc petrol version and, unusually for a car this size at the time, a 1758 cc diesel. Bodies ran from two- and four-door saloons to a cabriolet, an estate, a van and a pickup, which reflected an economy that needed vehicles to work as much as to impress.

Borgward Hansa1500 innen · User Spurzem on de.wikipedia Camera location50° 26′ 29.44″ N, 7° 24′ 01.56″ E View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMap 50.441512; 7.400433 · CC BY-SA 2.0 de

In production

The car sold well enough to fund Borgward's expansion into a genuine full-range manufacturer, and it ran until 1954, when it was replaced by the model that would define the firm — the Isabella.

Borgward Hanse 1800 02 · Huhu Uet · CC BY 3.0

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1949–1954

Engine

1498&nbsp

Body

2/4-door saloon

Technical specification

The Hansa 1500, in detail.

Production: October 1949–1954
Body style: 2/4-door saloon ; 2-door cabriolet ; 2-door station wagon ; 2-door panel van ; 2-door pickup truck
Layout: FR layout
Engine: 1498 cc Straight-four engine; I4 (1500) ; 1758 cc I4 (1800) ; 1758 cc Diesel engine; diesel I4
Transmission: 3-speed manual (1500); 4-speed manual (1800)
Assembly: West Germany: Bremen-Sebaldsbrück
Manufacturer: Carl F. W. Borgward GmbH