Who buys who is unlucky? 1949 Today, Baowo used to be beautiful.

Speaking of Baowo, we always joke about BBAB to satirize this fake foreign brand that flaunts German identity. However, decades ago, BBA really had Baowo, and Baowo was indeed the star of the German automobile industry.

1890

Carl, founder of Baowo Automobile? Friedrich? William? Borgward (Karl Baowo) 1890 was born in Altona, Hamburg, Germany. He was fascinated by machinery since he was a child, and chose a degree in mechanical engineering as an adult. However, the outbreak of World War I disrupted his dream of building a car, and Karl Baowo was forced to join the German army.

With the end of the war, 19 19 Karl Bower of Bremen joined Reifen-Industrie-GmbH GmbH. At the beginning of its establishment, the company mainly produced a kind of tire called Goliath? Pionnier's tricycle, yes, is what looks like an "old scooter" in the picture below.

Although it looks very different, everything in Germany is booming after World War I.. This cheap giant? Pionier tricycle has become the heart of ordinary Germans. Due to the lack of similar products in the market, Goliath? Pionnier made Baowo rich and got the first bucket of gold.

The production of tricycles obviously can't satisfy Mr. Karl Baowo's crazy car dream, so during the Great Depression 193 1 Germany, the company acquired Lufthansa (hansa? Automobil？ Gesellschaft？ M.b.H), after the acquisition, Baowo began to continue to produce Lufthansa? Konsul and Matador trucks continue their car dreams.

On 1934, at the 24th International Automobile and Motorcycle Expo, Borgward officially released Hansa? 1 100, Lufthansa A will be launched in a few months? 1700, Lufthansa? 1 100 is equipped with 1. 1L inline four-cylinder engine, which is divided into two versions: hard top version and soft top version. The maximum power can reach 28 horsepower and the top speed is 95 km/h.

With the low price of 2750 marks and excellent manufacturing strength, Lufthansa? 1 100 has been recognized by consumers. After seeing Baowo's manufacturing strength, the military also became interested in Baowo and asked Baowo to produce 50 military trucks for the military.

With the approach of World War II, the demand of German military for military vehicles is getting higher and higher, the German Defence Forces began to expand rapidly, and Baowo also joined the production of military vehicles. HLm 1 1, HLkl6 semi-tracked truck and Einheitsdiesel truck are all works of Baowo.

The HLkl6 semi-tracked truck is equipped with a 4.2L inline six-cylinder engine made in Maibakh, with maximum power 100 horsepower, maximum cruising range of 240km, maximum speed of 53km/h and wading depth of half a meter.

Even during the war, Karl Baowo still completed his dream of car while manufacturing military vehicles, Borgward? 2000 and 2300 became two luxury cars produced by Baowo in wartime, and these two models were also purchased in large quantities by the government for the use of military officers.

In order to meet the huge military demand, Baowo had to recruit more employees to produce military vehicles day and night, and these factories became the main targets of allied bombers. By the end of 1945, 75% of the equipment in Baowo's four factories had been completely destroyed.

With the end of the war, Karl Baowo integrated Borgward, Goliath and Lloyd under the brand on1949165438+1October 23rd, and formally established Karl? F.W .？ Baowo Co., Ltd. also marks the establishment of Baowo Empire.

The first model launched by Baowo after the war was Lufthansa? 1500, 1950 at the end, Lufthansa? The maximum power of 1500 engine is increased to 52 horsepower, and the maximum speed is125 km/h/h. With the economic recovery, people begin to buy these cheap Baowo cars.

Carl Baowo has always believed that the Excellence of vehicles can only be truly reflected in the stadium, so what about Lufthansa with aluminum alloy body? 1500? RS？ Spyder and 1500? Exercise? Coupe represented Baowo in Le Mans 24 Hours and Carrera Pan-American Rally, and achieved good results.

Carl Baowo, a trained man, has always loved machinery. In the early 1950s, automatic transmission was still a very advanced product. Baowo believes that luxury cars must get rid of cumbersome gear shifting, so Baowo independently developed a 3-speed automatic gearbox and put it in Lufthansa? 2400, which also makes Lufthansa? 2400 became the first luxury car with automatic transmission in German history.

Baowo not only produces cars, but also Carl Baowo, who loves machinery, began to develop helicopters in 1956, code-named BFK- 1? Kolibri's Hummingbird Helicopter became the first helicopter independently developed by Germany after World War II, with a maximum speed of 160km/h, a cruising speed of 140km/h and a maximum range of 322km.

During that glorious period, Baowo Automobile became the largest automobile exporter in Germany, accounting for 63.5% of Germany's exports, and its sales places were all over Europe, North America, South America, Africa and Asia. Moreover, Baowo also had the strongest product line in the world automobile industry at that time: cars, off-road vehicles, heavy trucks, light trucks, fire engines, tanks and helicopters.

The good times didn't last long. Although the previous Baowo had a smooth life, Baowo had to use the best-selling Isabella model to make up for the losses caused by other brands because of its independent operating system, marketing strategy and parts that its three brands could not enjoy.

Due to the loss of Lloyd's and Goliath brands for years, the Bremen government forced Baowo Group to go bankrupt on 196 1. At that time, Baowo's bankruptcy was "City by the Sea", because Carl Baowo insisted that even if Lloyd and Goliath brands lost money year after year, the company's profits were still enough to make up for the loss gap.

In fact, it is. After bankruptcy, Baowo paid compensation to all workers on time and paid debts to suppliers. At this time, Baowo still has assets as high as 4.5 million marks. Two years later, 73-year-old Carl Baowo passed away with a bitter heart, and the legend of Baowo was fixed here.

Decades later, Baowo reappeared in our field of vision, but we are all familiar with the later stories. After the resurrection, Baowo first made Beiqi Futian lose 3.2 billion yuan, and then Shenzhou Curve saved the country and bought Baowo. The stunt of "new car retail" looks ideal, but the reality is very skinny. After the travel company's vehicles were saturated, Baowo's car sales fell off a cliff.

Where is Baowo's tomorrow? Maybe it died in Germany in 196 1 year.

This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.