CarBrandLogos archive · Horch · 1931

HorchHorch 12

A V12 built in double figures, for a Germany that had stopped buying them.

Photo: Zairon · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Horch history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Horch 12, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Horch was the prestige end of German motoring before the war and remained so after it, and the Type 670 of 1931 was its most ambitious car: a 6,031 cc V12 in a long chassis, bodied as a four-door saloon or as two- and four-door cabriolets, and built at Zwickau. A related Type 600 was offered alongside it.

Horch 670 i · Norbert Schnitzler · CC BY-SA 3.0

Design and engineering

The engineering was sound and the timing was catastrophic. Germany in 1931 was in the depths of the Depression, the luxury market had effectively vanished, and the twelve-cylinder Horch found almost no buyers. Fifty-two Type 670s and twenty-three Type 600s were produced across three years, which for a car of this size and cost is close to a rounding error.

Horch 670 v · Norbert Schnitzler · CC BY-SA 3.0

In production

Horch became part of Auto Union in 1932, one of the four rings, and the lesson of the twelve was absorbed quickly. The company's future lay with the smaller and far cheaper V8-engined 830, and no Horch twelve was attempted again.

Horch 670 V12 1932 6021cc · Charles01 · CC BY-SA 3.0

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1931–1934

Engine

6,031&nbsp

Body

4-door cabriolet

Technical specification

The Horch 12, in detail.

Production: 1931–1934 (Type 670) ; 52 produced ; 1932-1933 (Type 600) ; 23 produced
Class: Full-size luxury car (F)
Body style: 4-door cabriolet; 2-door cabriolet; 4-door saloon
Layout: FR layout
Engine: 6,031 cc (6.0L) V12
Transmission: 4-speed manual /optional overdrive
Assembly: Zwickau, Germany
Manufacturer: Horch