Auto Union was a well-established German car manufacturer before World War II with marques like Horch, Audi and DKW. Think German GM. The War changed all that when most of the Auto Union factories were destroyed. Still Auto Union managed to survive, but only one of the old Auto Union marques was revived: DKW - the brand for the masses (motorcycles and affordable lower middle class cars). Audi obviously came back from the brink as well - to be Auto Union's only surviving member.
As Germany struggled to get the economy up and going again, much effort was taken to bring Western Germany back to the top of industrialization. The economy and industry of the United States formed the example of which to strive for. US American design of the 1950s was transmitted by music and movies into Western Europe and was regarded as an icon for financial success, especially in Western-Germany which was still in search of a new identity (as the one that was just destroyed obviously did not want to be remembered).
Auto Union, like many car companies post war, found restarting to be hard. This left little room for developing new models and technology so post-war DKW cars were quite similar in construction and design to the pre-war models. In order to survive DKW needed something that at least appeared up to date. To revive the brand image a fresh looking, attractive and youthful car was developed: the 1000Sp.
The 1000Sp basically adobted US American space age style complete with tailfins but downsized to European proportions. To be more specific, they stole the look of the 1957 Ford Thunderbird. Underneath the dazzle lied Trabant-esque 2-stroke technology. It's not fugly in itself, but the idea behind it - a kind of automotive plagarism - is.
Yes, I've brought you these bastardizations before. Multiple times. But they were never of Thunderbirds of this vintage - only 10th generation (1989-1997) cars. Now it appears they broadened their horizons to the 9th generation (1983-1988). Either that or some savvy individual that this was a brilliant idea idea and struck out on his own.
"Easy Rods" other available kit is one I've stumbled across before. However it now seems to be available in infinite varieties, from '49 Ford to '49 Mercurys to '55 Crown Vics. The one thing the all share though is that they're all based off the '89-'97 Thunderbird - a point that is painfully driven home if you look between the wheel wells. The early 50's designs look as attractive on the angular 80's styling of the T-Bird as Micheal Jackson wearing a poodle skirt. Almost makes the Belaro period correct.
So they don't look exactly like each other, but I find the VW New Beetle and the last Ford Thunderbird share quite a few similarities. Enough so that you can tell the same hand was behind the look of both of them. Which is strange for two vehicles from completely different companies.
These are pics of a kit you can buy for your late model Ford Thunderbird, if you're one of the 15 people who actually bought one. I sadly lost who actually makes this kit - this saved 5 years ago right before I stopped posting the first time around. It has kind of a Packard Hawk meets the Jetsons thing going on, but I suppose it's more of a third gen Thunderbird throw-back. Oh - and does the grille look like a '69 Camaro to anyone else?
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