1938 Horch 930V Sports Saloon

Footnotes

In 1932 Horch became part of the 'Auto Union' together with Audi, DKW and Wanderer. The firm produced a veritable plethora of model variations throughout the 1930s, ringing the changes on engine capacity, wheelbase and styles of coachwork, but all were aimed squarely at the prestige end of the market where Horch was the only serious domestic rival to Mercedes-Benz.

Paul Daimler, son of Gottleib, had been Chief Engineer for most of the 1920s, and following his departure Fritz Fiedler (later of BMW fame) took over, designing a single-overhead-cam straight-eight - the Horch 450 - which was followed by 6-litre V12-powered 600 and 670 models in 1931 and the V8-engined 830 and 930 in 1933. The 830/930 was available in two engine capacities – 3,517cc or 3,823cc – and a variety of body styles including a saloon, limousine, tourer and three different types of cabriolet. Around 6,400 830s of all types had been made when production ceased in 1940, plus some 2,000 of the short-wheelbase 930.

After WW2, Horch's Zwickau factory ended up on the eastern side of the 'Iron Curtain' where it would eventually be pressed into service manufacturing the utilitarian Trabant - a sad end to a once noble marque that had ranked among the very best.

This rare and original German thoroughbred is presented in un-restored 'time-warp' condition having covered a mere 31,000 kilometres from new in the hands of only two owners. The Horch was purchased new in 1938 from the Auto Union dealer Bertel O Steen in Oslo by the industrialist and CEO of Kampen Mekaniske Verksted, Hans Andreas Hartner. Hartner was an engineer by education and still holds four international patents in mechanical engineering.

When Germany invaded Norway on 9th April 1940, the car was hidden away from the occupying German forces and only re-emerged in 1948, three years after the war's end in the same pristine condition as when it had been concealed. The Horch was only used on a very limited basis from 1948 to 1966 due to Norwegian restrictions on car ownership after WW2.

On 1st June 1966 the car was bought by the current owner from Hans Andreas Hartner's son, the odometer reading at that time being 22,000 kilometres. It has been kept in a climate-controlled garage since 1966 and used sparingly. In May 1999 the Horch was driven from Bergen in Norway to Ingolstadt in Germany and back, a distance of 3,200 kilometres, to attend the Horch 100th anniversary celebrations. Re-commissioned in May 2014 by the specialist preparation company Ramsport, the car is presented in full working order and offered with its original Norwegian registration document, owner's manual and the current vendor's personal logbook.

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