The Denzel Roaster

While the Beetle and its derivatives were emerging from the ashes of pots-war Germany ; over in Austria, sports cars were also beginning to emerge. The most famous being the Porsche 356 Roadster ; but that's a story for the pages of the Porsche club magazine. While the Porsche is undoubtedly the most famous offspring of Austria ; the firm of Denzel also turned their considerable skills to sporting coupes based on the trusty Beetle.

The curved lines of the Denzel roadster

Wolfgang Denzel had been an engineer and keen motorsport enthusiast before the war ; having raced various BMW motorcycles and sports cars. After the war ; along with Hubert Stroinigg ; he designed and built a one off sports car on a Kubelwagen chassis. The first Denzel had a hand built wooden body, and while it retained the Kubelwagens 25hp engine ; its low weight did the car well in the 1949 Austrian Alpine Rally ; gaining first place.

Spurred on by this success, and with demand for sporting coupes becoming evident Denzel began work on a production prototype which was completed in 1951. The production car had an aluminium body on a tubular steel frame. Although the body of the car was entirely Denzel (and shorter than the Beetle) the suspension and engine were Volkswagen.

The engine was especially prepared by Denzel to get more power out of the flat four VW engine. When production started in 1953, the low power "Seriensuper" model featured a respectable 1281cc 52 HP engine, while the racy Super International came with a 1290cc 64hp unit.

The body remained much the same as the 1951 production prototype ; and it is interesting to know that the bodies came from the firm of Karosseriefabrik F K Gesellschaft, a Viennese firm that also produced some of the early Porsche 356 bodies.

The production car also came with Lockheed drum brakes, and somewhat rare for as dedicated sports car of the time ; the car could seat 3 (the driver had a bucket seat next to a double front seat for the passengers), heating and decent windscreen wipers. This made the Denzel an excellent enthusiasts sports car.

But Denzel's aim was really to race ; and at the wheel of one of his Super International models (along with co driver Hubert Stroinigg) that he took first place in the 1954 Alpine Rally ; surprising many of the more established racing firms. Only 37 of the 87 cars that took part finished, and the Denzel even beat the infamous Sterling Moss ; who could only finish tenth with is Sunbeam Alpine.

Tom Niedernhofer’s race ready Denzel - © Tom Niedernhofe

Denzel ceased production of what was one of the best VW based coupes ever built in 1959 ; at which time around 350 had been built. The firm of Denzel still exists today, and keeps two examples of the roadster at its showroom in Vienna. But that is not the end of the Denzel story ; for while you will likely never see one at a UK show ; they are still alive and kicking in the States and still being raced, one of the pictures printed is owned by Tom Niedernhofer, who regularly attends meets in the USA to put the Denzel through its paces, after all, they were designed for motorsport.