Hi Gang…

We’re burning up rubber here in the depths of Forgotten Fiberglass…..bringing to the surface lost and forgotten cars – mostly fiberglass – that deserve recognition and respect.  Today’s story is another in a series of articles on a custom coachbuilder who worked in metal and not ‘glass, and that’s Spohn Coachworks of Ravensburg, Germany.

I’ve been giving the wild customs of “Spohn Coachworks” recently because a Spohn Veritas car is coming up for auction soon (click here to learn more about the Spohn Veritas that will soon be auctioned in Chicago, Illinois.)  I hope that providing additional information about Spohn via our website, that those interested in the car at the auction can appreciate its history and significance in the early years of custom cars in America.

As I’ve said before, it’s an exciting time to learn about these early postwar American sports and custom cars, so let’s take a look at the pictures that have been prepped for the upcoming auction in November 2011.

1949 Spohn Veritas Sports Car Special: Pre-Auction Pictures

Thoughts About Spohn and Veritas:

We have recently been featuring more focus on the postwar custom cars of Spohn – both because they are a neat piece of history for American custom cars and that little attention has been given to these cars in recent years.

Wayne Graefen, Sphon owner and enthusiast has been with us on this research at every step, and other folks such as Michael Lamm, Alden Jewell, and Glenn Brummer have been a big part of this research too.  And the proof is in the pudding, as they say.  Click here to review the current articles posted on Forgotten Fiberglass about Spohn Coachworks.

Based on the article we posted last week from Special Interest Autos in 1974, author Michael Lamm shared some information “gems” about Spohn and Veritas, and the most interesting revelation is that  Josef Eiwanger Jr., (owner and operator of Spohn Coachworks from 1945 thru its closing in 1957) claimed to have built 12 bodies for Veritas  – some brand new from the factory and some modifications or “customs” which included the car about to be auctioned.  In fact, this is what he shared in the 1974 article about Spohn:

“At the same time that Spohn was building one-offs for GI’s, the company was also turning out bodies for the newly funded Veritas Automobilwerke.  The Veritas sports car was established in 1946 by former BMW employees, and it survived as a make until 1953.  Spohn built a dozen or so custom bodies for Veritas, as did Baur of Stuttgart – far-out open jobs, sometimes with Spohn / LeSabre-type fins.”

Here are some of the pictures we’ve been able to find so far concerning Spohn bodied Veritas sports cars – with custom car features.  It’s not known whether these represent the same car rebodied or several different cars, but given the information shared by Josef Eiwanger above, the evidence now points to the possibility that there were at least two different “custom Veritas sports cars” with the LeSabre treatment shown below.

There are photos of Spohn bodied Veritas sports cars that were not “customized.”  Click here to see 4 more Spohn bodied Veritas cars – but these are sports cars and not “custom cars.”     This leaves 6 undocumented Spohn Veritas cars at this time.

Summary:

It’s interesting that the firewall badge on this car shows the designation “SP” which – at this time – I’m attributing to “Spohn.”  Of course this is just speculation, and one of the Veritas historians out there could perhaps enlighten us on their thoughts concerning the stamping of the Veritas firewall badge with “SP.”  It could have an entirely diffrent meaning.

So….if any of you are up there at the auction in early November, be sure to take several pictures of the car and send our way.  What a wonderful car this will make for an excited new owner.

Hope you enjoyed the story, and until next time…

Glass on gang…

Geoff
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