First car "Made in Zwickau" is back - as a replica

After twelve years of painstaking work, a classic car is celebrating its resurrection: the Horch 14-17 PS Tonneau. It is considered to be the first car ever built in Zwickau - and founded the city's automobile manufacturing tradition, which continues to this day. As no such car could be found, the Friends of the August Horch Museum decided to build a replica, said Bernd Czekalla, head of the association, to the German Press Agency. "Our aim was to get the vehicle driving." He and his colleagues were able to draw on a catalog and drawings, as well as an original engine, which was dismantled and rebuilt.

On Wednesday evening, the now roadworthy vehicle was to be officially presented. The carriage body is made of wood, with only a few parts such as the mudguards and hood made of sheet metal. Hidden inside is an engine with four cylinder blocks and magneto ignition. The lamps are lit with carbide. The steering wheel is on the right, with a lever for the hand throttle. Another lever on the side allows the driver to choose between three gears. The car could seat a total of five people on its leather seats, which resembled a couch. According to a catalog from the past, the car was capable of more than 60 kilometers per hour, explained Czekalla. A good 50 of them are said to have been built.

The replica fills a gap in the museum's collection, said the 74-year-old. The project was made possible with the support of numerous sponsors. However, he remained silent about how much the detailed replica cost in total. The vehicle has already covered around 100 kilometers. It will soon be presented at the Horch and Sachsen Classic and later in the Horch Museum itself.

Zwickau is one of the cradles of automotive engineering in Germany. Car production was founded here in 1904 by engineer August Horch (1868-1951). He later founded the Audi brand, which became part of the second-largest German car manufacturer at the time, Auto-Union. After the Second World War, Zwickau was the production site of the Trabant small car, which dominated the streets of the GDR. After reunification, Volkswagen continued the automotive tradition in the city. In 2020, the last combustion engine rolled off the production line at the car factory there; since then, only electric cars of various brands have been built.