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The “Ferrari Of The East” – A Rare Melkus RS 1000 From East Germany

Known locally as the “Ferrari Of The East,” the Melkus RS 1000 is a sports car that was made behind the Iron Curtain in Soviet occupied East Germany from 1969 to 1979. Just 101 were built and it’s believed that approximately 80 remain roadworthy.

The Melkus RS 1000 was originally powered by a three-cylinder, liquid-cooled, two-stroke 992cc engine sourced from Wartburg, a fellow East German automaker. Power is sent to the rear wheels via a 5-speed transmission that was made by modifying a Wartburg 4-speed gearbox, and the running gear was largely sourced from the venerable Trabant and the Wartburg 353.

Fast Facts – The Melkus RS 1000

The Melkus RS 1000 is a fiberglass-bodied sports car made in Dresden in East Germany for 10 years from 1969 till 1979. They have steel ladder chassis and three-cylinder, two-stroke, one-liter engines producing approximately 68 hp at 4,500 rpm.
Just 101 of them were made and roughly 80 are thought to have survived.
The RS 1000 offered a top speed of 102 mph, a heady figure in the Soviet Union where regular vehicles like the Trabant had a top speed closer to 60 mph.
Melkus also built Formula 3, Formula Junior, and Formula Ford cars from 1959 until it ceased operations in 1986.

An Impossible Dream: The Ferrari Of The East

We don’t associate the Soviet Union with sports cars though a fair few were made over the years, all of which were unique in their own way and had to make do with a very limited supply of parts, materials, and engines.

Melkus was originally founded in 1959 by successful, multiple race winning driver (and driving school operator) Heinz Melkus in Dresden, East Germany to build single seat racing cars and road-going sports cars.

The Melkus RS 1000 has quintessentially ’60s styling with a Lotus-inspired fiberglass body on a steel chassis.

It was an ambitious project given the shortage of suitable supplies and expertise but against the odds he made it work, creating one of the most desirable sports cars available to people behind the Iron Curtain.

As the story goes, Heinz Melkus developed the RS 1000 in the 1960s after being overtaken by a Lotus when driving to Yugoslavia. Private businesses using resources to build luxury items like sports cars wasn’t generally permitted however East Germany was gearing up to celebrate its 20th anniversary and so government officials gave the project their approval, likely to they could use the cars to showcase East German industry.

Heinz Melkus and his small team did a remarkable job designing and building the RS 1000, they developed a steel ladder chassis and an aerodynamic fiberglass body, possibly inspired by that Lotus he’d seen on its way to Yugoslavia.

Components like engines, suspension, transmissions, and brakes were exceedingly hard to come by, the humble little Trabant passenger car had a 10 to 15 year wait from order to delivery largely due to limited supply and colossal demand for personal cars.

Some components for Melkus cars were sourced from junkyards and others from the Trabant and Wartburg factories. Interestingly the Melkus RS 1000 only had a wait time of only approximately two years, though the cars limited practicality, two seats, and high price tag meant it was only ever going to be accessible to a select few.

Production ran from the end of the 1960s until the end of the 1970s and the company would eventually fold in 1986 due to the dire economic situation in the Soviet Union.

The interior is relatively spartan, with two seats and a small central tunnel that accommodates the shifter and handbrake.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall Heinz Melkus started a BMW dealership in Dresden, and many years later in 2006 Heinz’s son Peter Melkus relaunched the company offering a new version of the car called the Melkus RS 2000.

The Melkus RS 1000

The Melkus RS 1000 is little-known outside of the former Soviet states, it’s a car that is obviously a child of the 1960s but at first sight people to struggle to place who manufactured it.

Melkus and his team created the most aerodynamic body they could without the use of a wind tunnel, with a Kammback design, a low nose, covered headlights, and gullwing doors. With the exception of the windscreen all the glass used in the car is flat for the sake of simplicity, and parts like rear vision mirrors, door handles, hinges, and indicators were all sourced from other automakers.

The steel ladder chassis was combined with a roll bar integrated into the windscreen frame, with another behind the seats for added protection. The RS 1000 rides on independent front and rear suspension with coil springs, and it uses drum brakes front and rear.

The mid-mounted engine is a three-cylinder unit taken from the Wartburg 353. The engine was rebuilt with a higher compression ratio and triple carburetors, giving 68 hp at 4,500 rpm and 87 lb ft of torque at 3,500 rpm, compared to the 55 hp of the engine used in the Wartburg 353.

In order to give the highest possible top speed a 5th gear was added to the Wartburg 353 four-speed gearbox, allowing the Melkus RS 1000 to reach 102 mph. The RS 1000 tips the scales at 720 kgs or 1,587 lbs thanks in large part to its lightweight fiberglass body, making it somewhat akin to the Lotus that inspired it.

The original 1.0 liter two-stroke, three-cylinder engine produces 68 hp, this upgraded 1.3 liter V6 engine makes 110 hp and can reach a top speed of 125 mph.

Production numbers just squeaked past 100, with 101 made in total. 80 of these are thought to survive to the modern day and they’re considered highly collectible in former Soviet states where they remain a local legend.

The Melkus RS 1000 Shown Here

The car you see here is a 1976 Melkus RS 1000 that is believed to be the only example powered by a 1.3 liter two-stroke Müller-Andernach V6 with triple Solex twin carburetors. It’s capable of 110 hp and 133 lb ft of torque, with power sent to the rear wheels via a five-speed gearbox with modified ratios.

Thanks to the larger engine the top speed of this RS 1000 is approximately 125 mph, and it’s finished in Ferrari Giallo Modena paintwork with a two-tone black and grey interior.

We almost never see these cars come up for auction so it’ll be interesting to see what this one goes for. It’s being sold now in a live auction (at the time of writing) on Collecting Cars, with 4 days remaining to bid.

If you’d like to read more about this Melkus or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

Images courtesy of Collecting Cars

The post The “Ferrari Of The East” – A Rare Melkus RS 1000 From East Germany appeared first on Silodrome.

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A Jet Age Citroën H Van By Barou: One Of A Kind Vintage Camper

This is a Citroën H Van as you’ve probably never seen it before, with a custom made coachbuilt body by French company Barou. It was specifically designed as a mobile office and home for a Mr Charlin, the owner of a company named Socome, based in Lyon that specialized in the supply of garage equipment.

The Citroën H van, or the Type H as it’s sometimes called, was by far the most advanced commercial van design of its era, despite its relatively antiquated looks. It made use of monocoque construction, it had four-wheel independent suspension, and a front wheel drive system that allowed it to have a very low, flat floor in the back ideal for carrying cargo.

Fast Facts – The Citroën H Van

The Citroën H Van was produced from 1947 until 1981 with very little in the way of updates, a remarkable 34 year production run.
Citroën made almost half a million of them in total, with the final number produced sitting at 473,289.
The van features an unusual corrugated steel body, a design chosen as the panels have more rigidity with little weight penalty, a critical feature as the van uses monocoque construction.
The Citroën H Van was developed into almost every type of vehicle imaginable, from simple delivery vans and trucks to ambulances, camper vans, horse transporters, mobile cafes and food vans, and even school busses.

Citroën H Van

The styling of the Citroën H Van stopped the motoring world in its tracks when it was first shown to the public at the 1947 Paris Motor Show, it used an unusual corrugated steel body design not dissimilar to the aircraft made by the German Junkers aircraft company, and unusually for the time it was front wheel drive.

A vintage advertisement for the Citroën H Van showing how it looked without the bespoke body.

When it comes to most things in life the French have their own peculiar style and this is nowhere more evident that in the world of car design – the Citroën 2CV, Citroën DS, and the earlier Citroën Traction all being key examples of this phenomena.

Citroën had developed a van called the Citroën TUB (Traction Utilitaire Basse) in 1939 which used many components from the Citroën Traction in order to keep production costs down. The TUB was essentially a box on wheels with a front wheel drive system and a low flat floor in the rear for cargo.

The production of TUB ceased during the German occupation of France, and the post-WWII Citroën H Van borrowed heavily from its predecessor, though the styling was notably different, particularly due to the aforementioned use of corrugated steel for the body.

Unusually for the time, the Citroën H Van was designed with monocoque construction rather than a standard body-on-frame design, this meant that the van was lighter and simpler to build than its contemporaries.

Another unusual feature was the use of front wheel drive, no commonplace on many vans it was unique back in the 1940s and it allowed the H Van to have a very low flat floor in the back with 6′ of headroom.

The driving position offers excellent visibility, with expansive windows surrounding the driver, even up in the roof.

The years immediately after WWII in Europe were characterized by the severe austerity measures that had been implemented after the war had almost bankrupted many of the nations involved.

This meant that the general populace had little money to spend on automobiles and so affordable vehicles like the Citroën 2CV and the Citroën H Van were the key to getting the country mobile again as the rebuilding effort began.

Citroën H Van Specifications

Citroën developed the H Van to use the same front wheel drive engine system as the pre-existing Citroën Traction, the headlights were sourced from the 2CV, and the gauges came from the Traction Avant.

When it was first released the H Van was powered by the Traction 1,911cc inline-four cylinder engine producing approximately 50 bhp at 3,800 rpm. The suspension, and 3-speed gearbox were also sourced from versions of the Traction, specifically the 11 and 15.

Braking was accomplished with hydraulic drum brakes on all four wheels and suspension consisted of torsion bars and shock absorbers. Steering was rack and pinion, and the cruising speed was 55 to 60+ mph depending on model.

The styling of the van is unmistakably 1950s Jet Age, with a French twist of course.

Over the course of its production run the exterior design of the H Van would differ little, however different petrol and some diesel engine options were offered. When ordering you could choose a van or pick-up truck, or alternatively could could get a powered rolling platform and have a unique body built by the coachbuilder of your choice.

When it was originally released it was simply named the H Van however the model series would include the H, HY, HZ, HX, and HW sub-designations over the course of the production run.

Today the unique styling and remarkable engineering of the H Van and its siblings have seen the surviving examples become highly collectible. Rust has been the primary killer of these vans, as with essentially all vehicles from this era, but it is still possible to find excellent examples.

One Of A Kind: The Citroën H Van By Barou

The van you see here looks nothing like the production H Vans produced by Citroën though it does use the exact same running gear.

There are perspex windows in the van at the front above the driver, a handy feature when driving in the Alps.

This vehicle started life as a powered platform from Citroën that was bought by a Mr Charlin and entrusted to French coachbuilder Jean Barou, based in Cournonsur-Rhône since 1940. Barou had survived the war years building trailers for bicycles, allowing people to haul cargo behind their bikes at a time when vehicles and fuel were in limited supply.

After the war he turned to both racing cars and more utilitarian vehicles like the example you see here. This H Van and its trailer was developed by Barou to be a rolling office and accommodation for Mr Charlin, that would allow him to travel around the country showcasing and selling his wares.

Barou and his team developed an entirely unique body that took ample styling cues from the jet age, with a prominent chrome grille ands bumpers, a wrap around wind screen with additional windows above the driver, an aircraft-like circlar window in the side entry door, and of course the matching trailer.

Now in need of a careful restoration this highly unusual piece of 1950s automotive design is due to cross the auction block on the 19th of September in France with a price guide of €40,000 – €60,000, which works out to $47,400 – 71,000 USD.

If you’d like to read more about this unique camper van or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Aguttes.

This Barou camper van has a steel roof rack with a ladder at the rear for access.

Images courtesy of Aguttes

The post A Jet Age Citroën H Van By Barou: One Of A Kind Vintage Camper appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/citroen-h-van-barou/
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The “Italian E-Type” – A Jaguar E-Type By Frua And Italsuisse

The car you see here is the only E-Type Jaguar that had its design reworked by Frua and Italsuisse. The reason both coachbuilders took part is an interesting story in itself, largely centered around a larger-than-life character named John Coombs.

Restyling the E-Type is one of the most difficult jobs you could give to any car designer, the original design is held in such high regard that any changes to it are likely to trigger a pitchfork wielding posse intent on enacting vigilante justice.

That said, a small number of E-Types have had their styling reworked with varying degrees of success. The car you’re looking at here is one of the better known examples, referred to in Jaguar circles as “The Coombs Special.”

Fast Facts – The Jaguar E-Type By Frua + Italsuisse

The first generation Jaguar E-Type, known as the Jaguar XKE in the United States, is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful car designs of all time and certainly one of the most beautiful of the 1960s.
The redesigned E-Type you see here was built for former racing driver and Jaguar dealer John Coombs, it was reveled to the world at the 1966 Geneva Salon then shown to the British public at the 1966 Earls Court Motor Show.
The first redesign was undertaken by Italian coachbuilders Frua however it was deemed too subtle for Coombs’ tastes, so he sent it to Swiss coachbuilders Italsuisse who added a number of notable design additions, including the front and rear chrome bumpers.
Just one of these was built and it’s very well-known in the Jaguar world, some love it and some are a little less enthusiastic, but it is certainly memorable.

The Most Beautiful Car Ever Made

There are many cliches in the motoring world best avoided but often repeated, chief among them are that when writing an article about the E-Type Jaguar you have to mention that Enzo Ferrari loved the design, and was quoted as saying that is was “the most beautiful car ever made.”

The styling of “The Coombs Special” is perhaps a little divisive, its most notable additions are the large front and rear chrome bumpers.

Whether or not you agree with il Commendatore there is one thing for certain, the E-Type is one of those classic cars that has well and truly broken through into the mainstream. Even regular, non-car people (of a certain age, at least) know what an E-Type is and that it’s very desirable.

There are a few other cars like this of course, cars that have entered the consciousness of the non-petrolhead world, vehicles like the Porsche 911, Lamborghini Countach, VW Beetle, Mini Cooper, Willys Jeep, and the Series Land Rovers.

The Series 1 E-Types are widely considered to be the most handsome examples of the car, the earlier models with the covered headlights and the original body styling, but all of them are worth a king’s ransom nowadays and even rusted out hulks can fetch eye-watering sums.

A Jaguar E-Type By Frua And Italsuisse

In the mid-1960s former racing driver and Jaguar dealer John Coombs contacted Frua in Italy with an idea, he wanted them to create an Italian version of the E-Type which Coombs could then display to drum up interest in similar custom built bodykits offered by his dealership – Coombs of Guildford.

To Pietro Frua’s credit, he took on the job, even then a mammoth undertaking given the popularity of the vehicle’s original styling. When the 1965 Jaguar E-Type arrived in Italy Frua and his team set to work.

It’s possible that there had been some translation-based misunderstanding as rather than creating easy to replicate body parts that could be bolted onto the car, they instead cut 20cm from the front and 10cm from the back. The front wheel arches were scalloped and the hood was modified with the power bulge turned into an air scoop accompanied by decorative faux-grilles down either side.

Frua cut 20cm from the nose and 10cm from the tail, notably truncating the car but preserving much of its body in between.

Coombs wasn’t impressed with the work, it would be exceedingly difficult and time consuming to apply it to customer’s Jaguars on request. He then sent the car to Frua-allies Italsuisse who created a set of distinctive front and rear bumpers, and changed the color from red to grey. The car very nearly missed its grand unveiling at the 1966 Geneva Salon, where it received mixed reviews.

“The Coombs Special”

The car is known in Jaguar enthusiast circles as “The Coombs Special,” after Geneva the car was shown in England at the 1966 Earls Court Motor Show. Coombs himself discussed the car with author Philip Porter in 1989:

“The idea was to have a new front which would have come to us as a complete nose and a new tail which was going to virtually slide onto the back of the old one. There was to be no major surgery involved. The idea was to do it in a couple of days of modifications and you were back on the road again.” – John Coombs

Although the car didn’t meet Coombs’ requirement it does offer a look into what the E-Type may have looked like if it had come from Italy in the 1960s, specifically from Frua. The car underwent a complete restoration starting in 2007 and it’s now presented in the condition it was in when it was shown to the world for the first time in Geneva.

This unusual E-Type is now for sale in a live auction on Collecting Cars, at the time of writing there are five days left to bid and you can click here if you’d like to read more.

Images courtesy of Collecting Cars + Matt Woods Photography

The post The “Italian E-Type” – A Jaguar E-Type By Frua And Italsuisse appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/jaguar-e-type-frua-italsuisse/
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For Sale: A Lamborghini Miura Front Clamshell

This is the front clamshell from a Lamborghini Miura, it was removed by the car’s owner and replaced with a new nose, then placed into storage where it has remained for decades.

It’s now being offered for sale as a standalone piece that’ll likely either be bought by someone who wants a spare for their own Miura, or by someone who wants to display it as an automotive sculpture.

The Lamborghini Miura is a car that needs no introduction, it’s regarded by many as the world’s first modern supercar, and it’s layout with a rear-mid- mounted engine and transmission is now the de facto choice for almost all supercars in production.

The Miura was styled by Marcello Gandini, one of the most important and influential automobile designers of the 20th century and the man who would later design the Lamborghini Countach, Lancia Stratos, Alfa Romeo Montreal, De Tomaso Pantera, Cizeta-Moroder V16T, and countless others.

Many point to the Miura as being the single most beautiful car ever designed and almost everyone agrees its one of the top ten. It was famous developed in secret by Lamborghini’s top engineers – Gian Paolo Dallara, Paolo Stanzani and Bob Wallace, without Ferruccio Lamborghini’s knowledge.

With the paint removed you have a unique insight into the manufacturing process of the alloy Miura body, with all the original tool marks clearly visible.

The created a low slung car with a semi-monocoque steel chassis that had a steel monocoque cockpit section combined with front and rear subframes. This formula is used today on a number of modern supercars, typically substituting the steel for carbon fiber.

The engine was fitted behind the driver and passenger in a sideways or transverse orientation, sharing the crankcase with the transmission to save space. Interestingly this was the same power unit architecture introduced on the Morris Mini in 1959.

Fortunately, Ferruccio Lamborghini approved the project for production and in so doing helped to transform the high-end automobile would, while at the same time causing no small amount of consternation for Enzo Ferrari – his arch rival.

The Miura clamshell you see here was shaped by hand in Italy by highly skilled metalworkers, if you look closely you can see the original tool and hammer marks that are only visible now that the paint has been removed.

If you’d like to add this clamshell to your own Miura or install it in your living room as a sculpture you can click here to visit the listing on Collecting Cars. It’s being auctioned live now and at the time of writing there are five days left to bid.