Weird & Wonderful VWs - Rometsch

Denzel, Dannenhauer & Staus, Enzmann, are all coachbuilders or Karosserie that built fabulous sports coupes and cabriolets in the 1950s, but the tail does not end there, not by a long chalk.

Early model Banana coupe

The Karosserie of Rometsch had been set up in Berlin in the 1920s and was soon concentrating on producing quality taxi conversions built on current models from the likes of Opel. Inevitably war brought less glamourous work as the firm was switched to produce mobile field kitchens. When the war ended the firm luckily found itself in the western part of Berlin, and it wasn't long before the firm began to look to build civilian cars again, and the Volkswagen was the inevitable basis for their post war work.

Rometsch 4 Door taxi at Wolfsburg

Many may have heard of the distinctive Rometsch sports coupes and cabriolets, but they are also well known for a four door Beetle taxi, announced in 1951, and designed by Rometsch's designer Johannes Beeskow, who much later went on to join Karmann, in the 1960s.

The Beetle Taxi involved a complete strip down of a Beetle saloon, the car was then cut in half behind the front doors, and 7" (inches) of extra metal meticulously smoothed into the Beetles lines. Strengthening pillars were added between the front and rear doors, the whole conversion costing about DM2000 in the early fifties.

The model was a success, and a few survive today (see picture from Wolfsburg), but it is definitely for their sports models that Rometsch are regarded.

Again, penned by Johannes Beeskow, the prototype Rometsch 'Banana' was given the go ahead and exhibited at the 1950 Berlin Motor Show, by Friedrich Rometsch. The initial showing was a success and it was decided to press ahead with production.

The Rometsch is designed uniquely from the ground up with body symmetry all its own, and its low front and rear gave it its affectionate nickname of the Rometsch Banana. The Volkswagen chassis proved to be an ideal starting point and production soon began in 1950. Constructed entirely by hand, the Coupe's steel frame uses wood pillars and support beams, while its smooth outer skin is comprised of lightweight aluminium.

Pre 1957 Rometsch newly restored

Although many components, in addition to the pan were borrowed from Volkswagen (such as Karmann Ghia headlights, Beetle sun visors, Ghia ashtray and mirror), parts bins of other European badges were sampled from as well, including Fiat ('59 1100 D tail-lights), Ferrari (375 Mille Milga front turn signals) and the lesser known Borgward (for its chrome '59 Isabella door handles).

Many of the other parts used to originally build the car, including miscellaneous hardware was simply purchased off the shelf of a leading German automotive parts retailer.

1959 Rometsch restored in the USA

Rometsch began production of both cabriolet and coupe versions of the 'Beeskow banana' and the quality of the car proved a seller. Indeed, the design won several awards including the Golden Rose of Geneva in 1954, 55 and 56. Inside the car sported its won trim but retained the Beetle dashboard. In the mid 1950s, the dashboard was updated and the early spit front windscreen changes for a once piece screen.

On all models the front seats could be tilted forward to reveal a single rear seat running along the width of the car, behind this was more storage space. The two doors ran all the way to the bottom of the car and open 'suicide' fashion (hinged at the rear). Running gear was entirely Volkswagen, but many tunned the standard VW engine and in the later 1950s Rometsch offered the option of the uprated Okrasa VW based engine with twin carbs.

In 1957 it was decided to update the model and the task was passed on to Berliner Bert Lawrence. This later Rometsch features a more curved windscreen, single rear light housing and a vent grill of the engine lid taken from the Porsche 356. The doors now hinged at the front, and the trim styling no longer ran straight the length of the car, but curved down to a point then dramatically over the rear wheels. These late models came with Okrasa tunned engines as standard.

1959 Rometsch - one of the last of the breed

Many feel that this later redesign spoiled the original Beeskow design with its American style cues. Sales didn't increase, but the design still won the Golden Rose of Geneva in 1957. But what killed off the Rometsch was certainly not the quality of its cars but something entirely out of their hands. In 1961, the Soviet controlled East Germany erected the Berlin wall, thus splitting the city in half. The majority of Rometsch's skilled workforce lived in the Eastern sector. Now they would certainly not be able to work in the west, and in 1962 the firm ceased trading as a coachbuilding concern.

Today several examples survive and have been lovingly restored in Europe and the USA, the dream of Friedrich Rometsch and his incredible car will continue.