1936 Wanderer straight 6, not mine.

[Xander Wildeisen]

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/865444692271065/?ref=browse_tab

[Xander Wildeisen]

https://montereycarweek.net/new/lost-wanderer-found-auto-union-wanderer-w25k-roadster/

[m-mman]

Hummmmm……is Wanderer the name of the car? Or what the buyer would need to do to find parts? 🤔

[58L-Y8]

Here's the engine photo.  Wonder if they manufactured their own engine or sourced it elsewhere?

[TAKerry]

Interesting car.

[D2R]

6 hours ago, 58L-Y8 said:

Here's the engine photo.  Wonder if they manufactured their own engine or sourced it elsewhere?

They absolutely did make their own engines. And, if I am not wrong, this one looks like the 2.0 L aluminum-block inline-six designed by no one else but Dr. Ferdinand Porsche

(with pressed-in cast iron liners - a once-popular design in Europe; Renault & Skoda used it for decades, as well as BMW for its OHV V8s & some Russian manufacturers).

Could also be ordered with a Kompressor = Rootes Supercharger for some 20 extra horses.

Before the war, Wanderer was one of the larger German domestic car manufacturers.

This coach-built roadster could be a stunningly beautiful car if properly restored. I've probably only seen one in my lifetime.

[Xander Wildeisen]

Don’t think it is a roadster.

[Leif in Calif]

Wanderer was also one of the four brands that went together to form Auto Union, which is today Audi. 

[58L-Y8]

6 minutes ago, Xander Wildeisen said:

Don’t think it is a roadster.

The stamped windshield frame as part of cowl suggests it's a convertible coupe.  Hope they have door(s).

[alsancle]

1 hour ago, 58L-Y8 said:

The stamped windshield frame as part of cowl suggests it's a convertible coupe.  Hope they have door(s).

You are right Steve.  I love how they have the tarp covering any tell tale details.

 

A Roadster would be very cool and probably worth the ask.  A convertible coupe in pieces not so much.

 

 

[Xander Wildeisen]

 

[Xander Wildeisen]

 

[Xander Wildeisen]

The convertible coupe has a good look with the top up. 

[alsancle]

1 hour ago, Xander Wildeisen said:

The convertible coupe has a good look with the top up. 

 

German Cabriolets of the 1930s look great with the top up and not so great with the top down.  This is because they have a double top with heaving padding over the bows so they are not visible.  The issue is when you put the top down it doesn't really go down.

 

[TAKerry]

I think both of the Wanderers, the one in the fs ad and roadster are beautiful autos. I can see the op car properly restored being a 200k all day long, but it will most likely cost 1mil to get it there.

[bryankazmer]

12 hours ago, alsancle said:

 

German Cabriolets of the 1930s look great with the top up and not so great with the top down.  This is because they have a double top with heaving padding over the bows so they are not visible.  The issue is when you put the top down it doesn't really go down.

 

Perfect example of the traditional German design flaw. That’s hideous. 

[alsancle]

I wouldn’t say hideous. Even with the top down it’s a 2.5 to 3 million dollar  car. However, with the top up, it looks fantastic.

[58L-Y8]

German cabriolet tops down look like a folded mattress on the back of the body, even worse if it's a four-door cabriolet.   

[Xander Wildeisen]

 

[Xander Wildeisen]

2 hours ago, alsancle said:

I wouldn’t say hideous. Even with the top down it’s a 2.5 to 3 million dollar  car. However, with the top up, it looks fantastic.

That looks like it is going fast just sitting there.

[bryankazmer]

3 hours ago, alsancle said:

I wouldn’t say hideous. Even with the top down it’s a 2.5 to 3 million dollar  car. However, with the top up, it looks fantastic.

I’m aware of what they cost new and now. Even less excuse for the execution. A convertible whose looks improve when the top is up is a bad top design. Compare with a Murphy disappearing top design

 

I’m not criticizing the rest

[alsancle]

9 hours ago, bryankazmer said:

I’m aware of what they cost new and now. Even less excuse for the execution. A convertible whose looks improve when the top is up is a bad top design. Compare with a Murphy disappearing top design

 

I’m not criticizing the rest

 

The difference is that a open Murphy bodied car at 70 miles an hour with the windows rolled up has lots of wind noise.   A German cabriolet at the same speed with the windows rolled up is quiet.   That is the trade off.  That and you can't see the top bows if the top was done correctly.

 

I agree it doesn't look great but they did it for a reason, not because they couldn't design something better.  Germans know how to design.

 

That could make a top disappear just like Murphy.

 

Edited July 31 by alsancle (see edit history)

[bryankazmer]

A very beautiful 540k!  I agree on the tradeoffs, and the long tail you show was also done at Sindelfingen. 
 

All styling is subjective,  but I think the standard collapsed tent top design trades 50 aesthetic points for 3 functional points. 
 

Comes down to whether one would prefer the maroon or the silver car. 

[58L-Y8]

Considering how many pre-war coach-built European cabriolets have heavy padded and lined convertible tops one might conclude that the Europeans took a different tact toward their convertibles, considering them to be all-weather cars regardless of the season and how cold it was.  Certainly, if it was in northern Europe, not only did they need the heavy padded and lined tops but also good effective heaters, the gas-fueled variety.

[Leif in Calif]

4 hours ago, alsancle said:

The difference is that a open Murphy bodied car at 70 miles an hour with the windows rolled up has lots of wind noise.   A German cabriolet at the same speed with the windows rolled up is quiet.   That is the trade off.  That and you can't see the top bows if the top was done correctly.

My wife had a '70 Karmann Ghia convertible 25 years ago. It that point it was an eight thousand dollar car, but a replacement top was close to $4K, and the upholstery place told me that it he had done quite a few and knew of no car that was more difficult or time consuming.   

[bryankazmer]

1 hour ago, 58L-Y8 said:

Considering how many pre-war coach-built European cabriolets have heavy padded and lined convertible tops one might conclude that the Europeans took a different tact toward their convertibles, considering them to be all-weather cars regardless of the season and how cold it was.  Certainly, if it was in northern Europe, not only did they need the heavy padded and lined tops but also good effective heaters, the gas-fueled variety.

You see it typical of German and English coach work, not so much French and Italian. Part of that is climate, part is aesthetic.  Then there is that British sports car erector set approach, which was so bad it spawned the tonneau cover. 
 

 

 

[58L-Y8]

16 minutes ago, bryankazmer said:

"Then there is that British sports car erector set approach, which was so bad it spawned the tonneau cover."
 

 

 

Heheheheh!!!!

[D2R]

On 7/29/2024 at 9:46 PM, 58L-Y8 said:

The stamped windshield frame as part of cowl suggests it's a convertible coupe.  Hope they have door(s).

 

True enough. Still, not the "regular" 4-seat Cabriolet = convertible coupe, but a 2-seater called the Sport-Cabriolet, which shared the cowl with the regular Cabriolet, but used the same deck as the roadster:

 

 

By far not as interesting or desirable as the roadster, though.

 

On 7/31/2024 at 5:45 PM, 58L-Y8 said:

Considering how many pre-war coach-built European cabriolets have heavy padded and lined convertible tops one might conclude that the Europeans took a different tact toward their convertibles, considering them to be all-weather cars regardless of the season and how cold it was.  Certainly, if it was in northern Europe, not only did they need the heavy padded and lined tops but also good effective heaters, the gas-fueled variety.

That is correct. The cabriolet was considered to be more of a closed body, a coupe with a fabric roof that's going to remain in place most of the time, only occasionally to be lowered for some open-air fun, or even was permanently fixed.