1932 Horch 780 Sport-cabrio

1932 Horch 780 Sport-cabrio

Dr. August Horch started his career alongside Carl Benz and Paul Daimler in 1886. From November 1899, he decided to stand on his own two feet and start his own car production company, A.Horch and Cie, which they set up in Ehrenfeld, Cologne and started out repairing cars before quickly creating his own vehicles from 1900.

At the Paris motor show in October 1931, under the glass roof of the Grand Palais, August Horch attracted attention for his 12 cylinder display. However, only 80 editions of the Horch 12 cylinder had been produced by 1935.

Using the same chassis and the same range of body work, the Horch 780 returned to the reality of the market, offering the same benefits of comfort and strength. The type 780 was developed to challenge the 12 cylinder Maybach Zeppelin and the Mercedes Benz type 770, but Auguste Horch, greatly inspired by what was being produced in the French body work industry, and [sic] made sure to separate, isolate, the body from the chassis. To win customers from its two direct competitors, the sale price of the Horch 780 was significantly reduced for the same standard of quality.

The Horch 780 was equipped with an eight cylinder inline engine with a simple overhead camshaft, a capacity of 4,944 cm3, coupled to a gear box with four forward gears and reverse. The engine reached 100 hp at 3,400 revolutions per minute and the maximum speed of the Horch 780 was 77.5 miles per hour, that is 125 km/h. The car weighed no less than 2.1 tonnes, with a length of 5.1m and a width of only 1.87m.

The style of the Horch 780, like the rest of the brand's products, was marked by a fine classicism. However, it can be noted that the low bonnet, the rounded radiator grille and especially the windscreen in three units, combined to give this sport-cabrio an imposing and military air, worthy of speeding down the new concrete autobahns of the Third Reich. The dashboard had numerous control dials. To the rear the boot with twin lids integrated well into the general line and the additional luggage rack allowed the driver to plan for long journeys. This was the brand's last great vehicle before it was taken over by the Auto-Union group in 1933.

This impressive sport-cabrio left the factories in Zwickau in early spring 1932,only seven surviving editions of the 780 sport-cabrio in German territory, and as many in the rest of the world, which survived the Second World War.

Descriptions and pictures by bonhams