Karosserie Friedrich Rometsch, a German metallurgical-

coachbuilding A coachbuilder or body-maker is someone who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.Construction has always been a skilled trade requiring a relatively lightweight product with sufficient strength. The manufacture of necessarily ...

company based in

Berlin-Halensee Halensee () is a ''locality'' (''Ortsteil'') of Berlin in the district (''Bezirk'') of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Halensee was established as a villa and tenement settlement in about 1880, in the suburb of Wilmersdorf, which became part of Great ...

, manufactured, modified, and repaired coaches,

trailers Trailer may refer to: a Transportation * Trailer (vehicle), an unpowered vehicle pulled by a powered vehicle ** Bicycle trailer, a wheeled frame for hitching to a bicycle to tow cargo or passengers ** Full-trailer ** Semi-trailer **Horse trailer ...

, bodies and

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

History

Founded in 1924 by Friedrich Rometsch, the company was one of many in Europe providing car bodies for customers buying their motor-car in "bare chassis form", complete with an engine, and then employing a coachbuilder to add a custom-built body. By the late 1930s it was becoming more usual to buy the complete vehicle. Friedrich Rometsch and his son Fritz Rometsch had earned their experience while working for the coachbuilder,

Erdmann & Rossi Erdmann & Rossi was originally a coachbuilding company based in Berlin, Germany. In the early half of the 20th century, the company became known for the manufacture of chassis used on luxury vehicles. After the devastation of World War II, the comp ...

. During the early years most Rometsch car bodies were designed for use as taxis, using mainly

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Grou ...

chassis. There were also some bespoke bodies produced for private customers. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the company switched to manufacturing mobile field kitchens for the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. Johannes Beeskow, a Rometsch designer who had worked for

during the 1930s, built the first prototype of a four-door sedan in 1950; the donor vehicle being a

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...

scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...

condition. Rometsch took this concept into the production of a

taxicab A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

. The

wheelbase In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...

had been stretched by about . Access to the backseats was improved by incorporating suicide doors. VW Käfer Taxi von Rometsch 1953 (3)

The ''Beeskow'' and the ''Lawrence'' were also based on the Volkswagen Beetle, with a Rometsch body. These were named after their designers. Both models were available as a

coupé A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...

and as a convertible. These vehicles gained awards at the Geneva Automotive Show several times. About 17 examples were built per year. When sales declined, mainly due to the competition from the mass production of the Type 14

Karmann Ghia The Volkswagen Karmann Ghia is a sports car marketed in 2+2 coupe (1955–1974) and 2+2 convertible (1957–1974) body styles by Volkswagen. Internally designated the Type 14, the Karmann Ghia combined the chassis and mechanicals of the Type 1 ( ...

, which was 1,500 DEM cheaper and also built on the Beetle chassis, the general director of

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

, Heinrich Nordhoff, stopped the supply to Rometsch. He also prohibited dealers from selling either chassis or vehicles to Rometsch. When Rometsch realised they were selling the ''Lawrence'' at a loss, he was forced to cut wages to piece rate. A further blow hit Rometsch in the summer of 1961 when the construction of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

separated the business from nearly half of its 90 employees overnight. The production of the sports car ended later that year. From 1962 the business was concentrated on car body repairs, specialising in taxis. However, it did carry out a small series of bespoke conversions using Range Rovers, producing at least three lengthened-wheelbase "hunting vehicles" during the mid-1980s for General Secretary Erich Honecker. During its final years Rometsch turned to producing ambulance bodies and customising bus bodies for tour companies, while still also rebuilding damaged vehicles. The company closed in 2000. At least 200 to 250 customised bodies were manufactured by Rometsch; automotive historian Werner Oswald wrote of a total approaching 500,Werner Oswald: ''Deutsche Autos 1945–1990.'' while the magazine

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

reported up to 585. Taxi entrepreneurs from Berlin made Rometsch manufacture 38 of the stretched Beetle taxis.

1951 Rometsch Beeskow

The ''Beeskow'' was twice the price of its platform and parts donor, the Volkswagen Beetle. The ''Beeskow'' became "the Beetle for the high society". The design of falling lines on head and tail of the pontoon body caused it to be nicknamed "the banana". A third seat was installed behind the driver seat, turned by 90 degrees, facing the nearside. The actor

Viktor de Kowa Viktor de Kowa (also spelled Victor de Kowa, born Victor Paul Karl Kowalczyk; 8 March 1904 – 8 April 1973) was a German stage and film actor, chanson singer, director, narrator, and comic poet. Life He was born the son of a farmer and engineer ...

bought the first ''Beeskow'' at the Geneva Automotive Show. As Friedrich Rometsch had not thought of a price, he took a look at the

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

exhibition booth next-door where the Porsche 356 was offered for 10,000

DEM DEM was the ISO 4217 currency code for the Deutsche Mark, former currency of Germany Computing * Digital elevation model, a digital representation of ground-surface topography or terrain ** .dem, a common extension for USGS DEM files * Discrete ...

and Rometsch offered the car for 9,800 DEM, which was accepted. Today that price would equal EUR. Both

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood ...

and

Audrey Hepburn Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, t ...

also bought Beeskows. In the late middle 1950s, the design engineer Johannes Beeskow moved to the Karmann company in Osnabrück as their department manager of technical research. Some of the design elements from the ''Beeskow'' were found later in other vehicles such as the so-called "wheelbrows" on the bumpers of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL and also the roof of the Audi TT. About 175 Beeskows were built, of which the majority were convertibles. The Coupés can be divided into three series, easily identifiable by the size of the rear windshield which grew considerably with each change. File:Rometsch beeskow2.jpg, 1956 Rometsch Beeskow Convertible File:Rometsch beeskow3-2.jpg File:Rometsch Beeskow Volkswagen (1957) 1X7A8065.jpg, 1957 Convertible File:1954 Rometsch Beeskow Coupé M-61006 in Los Angeles, rear right.jpg, 1954 Series 2 Beeskow Coupé, with panoramic rear windshield File:VW Rometsch Beeskow Coupe (25816125104).jpg, 1955 Series 3 Coupé with fully wraparound rear windshield

1954 Rometsch Porsche Spyder

In early 1954 Rometsch manufactured a light alloy body for a

racing car Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

, following the shape of Porsche 550 Spyder, again utilising the Beetle chassis. The gearbox and the 1.1-litre, engine which were made by Porsche, gave a topspeed of 190 to 200 km/h (118 to 124 mph). Rometsch Porsche Spyder 1953 (14450189273).jpg 1954_Rometsch_Porsche_Spyder_09.jpg 1954_Rometsch_Porsche_Spyder_06.jpg, Original 1954 Rometsch Porsche Spyder

1957 Rometsch Lawrence

The ''Rometsch Lawrence'' was introduced in 1957. The furniture designer Bert Lawrence had drawn the shape of the car. Again a modified Beetle with a brand-new body; 15 cm ( inch) lower and a harmonic two-colour appearance. The padded dashboard was uncommon at that time in Germany. A

Petri Petri is a surname derived from Latin Petrus, and may refer to: Surname * Adam Petri, Renaissance printer who founded a Basel publishing house * Alexandra Petri, humor columnist for ''The Washington Post'', daughter of Tom * Carl Adam Petri, w ...

steering wheel A steering wheel (also called a driving wheel (UK), a hand wheel, or simply wheel) is a type of steering control in vehicles. Steering wheels are used in most modern land vehicles, including all mass-production automobiles, buses, light and ...

was available as an option. Design elements such as American-style tailfins, wrap-around windshield and Italian-styling won the car the "Golden Rose" at the 1957

International Geneva Motor Show The Geneva International Motor Show is an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva. The show is hosted at the Palexpo, a convention centre located next to the Geneva Cointrin International Airport. The Salon is organised by th ...

. Available as a coupé and a convertible, it took about 1200 hours to build a ''Lawrence''. In 1959 in Germany it sold for 8000 DEM, which equals EUR today. Production of the ''Lawrence'' ended in 1961. A restored 1959 Rometsch Lawrence is exhibited at the

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth largest city in the German state of Lower Saxony, located on the river Aller. It lies about east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the location of Volkswagen AG's hea ...

AutoMuseum Volkswagen. Rometsch-Lawrence Front Brunswyk (2012).JPG Rometsch-Lawrence Heck Brunswyk (2012).JPG Rometsch-Lawrence Innenraum Brunswyk (2012).JPG Volkswagen 1959 Rometsch Lawrence Coupe.jpg, Rometsch Lawrence Coupé

External links

{{Commons category * (German
Rometsch Modells

Stylish: Rometsch Beeskow
DW-TV ''Drive it!'', 2 March 2016
Vintage! Rometsch Lawrence
DW-TV ''Drive it!'', 27 April 2016

wolfsburg-citytour.de

References