German-Built Coupe: 1959 Borgward Isabella
One of the lesser-remembered German automobile manufacturers of the 1950s was Borgward Gmbh. Based in Bremen, the outfit was in business from 1954 to 1962 and competed with the likes of BMW and Mercedes. One of the nifty cars was the Isabella, which came in a variety of body styles. This coupe is from 1959 and is said to run well after coming out of long-term storage. The paint is good, but we’re told there is some rust underneath. Located in Holland, Michigan, this interesting auto is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $13,000 OBO. Our thanks to Barn Finder “Ted” for identifying this unusual tip for us!
The Isabella got its name not through market research but because staff found it more desirable than Hansa (its predecessor). Power by a 1500-cc engine that produced 60 hp (later 75), more than 200,000 Isabellas were built before the company ran into financial difficulties and eventually went under in 1962. The cars employed unibody construction with a ground clearance of less than seven inches (rather low for the boxy-car days of the 1950s).
To help boost sales, the Isabella Coupe was introduced in 1957. The company’s founder, Carl Borgward, gave one to his wife and it’s reported that she drove it for more than 25-30 years. These cars don’t pop up too often in the U.S. and this example only has 67,000 miles on the odometer. We don’t know its history, but it was off the road for some time. The seller says it runs well but doesn’t indicate if work was needed to make that happen.
Overall, it looks good. The paint, which might be original, is thinning in places, and there are reports of rust that you can’t see in the photos (under the rocker panels). The interior is original and has held up well enough. If you choose to restore the car, we have to wonder how difficult parts will be to come by since there hasn’t been a new Borgward built in more than 60 years.
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Comments
Love this car! Great lines and the interior is awesome. How many of these do you see at a cars and coffee. Don’t have room at this time but I’m still going to inquire and maybe make a deal. The only thing better is to find a Ford consul caprie.
No way! I have had two Borgward’s and one Ford Consul 315, which was a Capri with a different body, and there is no comparison in any way whatever between the two manufacturers. The Borgward is a “Rolls Royce” and the Consul is just “Junk.” The Capri has a beautiful, svelte body lines, but is very “Tinny,” whereas the Borgward is more “chunky” but built like a tank.
Wow. Lovely looking car to tool around in. This one has already made the show circuit what with all those garish plaques afixed to the dash. Hopefully someone will find it and enjoy it for years to come.
This is great, thanks for something different and don’t see often the write up was very interesting and historical. Thanks for the break from all the same corvettes, mustangs ,cudas and the like!!!!!
I need one of these to park in front of my Craftsman Cottage house. Then I just need the tweed jacket with the elbow patches and start smoking a pipe. Really cool car.
Mimsy were the Borgwards.
My father had a penchant for odd imports in the 50’s & 70’s. He had a 4 door Isabella in black, traded it for a light blue Fiat 500 then traded that for a new bug in 62. He said the Borgward was the best of the three.
All Borgward’s were two door sedans apart from the very last Borgward’s made in South America. I think it was called a P 100.
Absolutely wrong. Hansa 1500 until 1952 and Hansa 1800 were available 4dr. Not to mention the pre – war Hansa 2000 and Hansa ( Borgward ) 2300 !
After end production of 2500 German P100 sedans the final 2000 Borgward P100 were manufactured (1967 – 1970) in Monterey, Mexico, North America. Factory plans & equipment shipped from Netherlands.
Sorry, but there was only o n e prototype of a 4 dr. Isabella….
But Hansa’s were not marketed as Borgward’s, they were Hansa’s.
Rumor has it that the tooling money for the 4-door Isabella went to do this coupe instead.
Same car on Craigslist about 5 or 6 years ago for $4,000. Very rusty underneath at the rockers, unibody repairs would be very involved. I passed on buying it.
You don’t know what you missed. I have never owned a coupe but have owned two Isabella sedans, which all were 2 door, not four doors.
I missed a money pit, I believe. But I found a non-rusty ’59 Isabella coupe much closer to me for less than $1,000. 👍 Dry storage for over 40 years.
First time I ever drove 4 on the tree. Yes FOUR
Saab 96 (sedan) and 95 (wagon) were 4 on the tree also.
Likewise several DKW models had the four on the tree.
I remember
My Opel Rekord C Caravan from 1967 also has four on the tree –
As did a LOT of British cars from Austin, Morris, Ford etc.
So we’re the 404 Peugeot back in the 70s
That right door and rocker area have had a little “makeup” applied. Borgward styling seemed to emulate Mercedes-Benz’s, but somehow they managed to turn elegance into homeliness. Darn few Borgward enthusiasts remain.
My mother owned one exactly like this . She drove it like a race car driver .
Wow, what a beautiful car! It would be nice to see this one restored!
An interesting, attractive car that’s underpowered. Price seems kinda reasonable but lotsa luck finding parts that won’t cost an arm and a leg. And what’s a unique car like this doing on FB instead of Hemmings?
Did you ever drive one ? ” Underpowered ” ? Try – and judge after….the Borgward – engine pulls like a steam – loco; she can accelerate to 60 mph in third gear – I like that ” underpowered ” car…
My bad, I was merely looking at the numbers and comparing them to Porsches and Mercedes of the era and simply jumped to my conclusion. Apparently it’s a light car and I’m anxious to get a chance to drive one; this one looks great and is guaranteed to draw crowds at Cars and Coffee as is!
No problem…but there certainly was a reason, why German police had quite a lot of them – mostly for motorways. The Isabella is around the bend – whilst the Merc is in the ditch and the Porsche – if the engine did not bust before – did a 180 degree – turn…
In 1973 I drove a right hand drive Peugeot wagon with 4 on the tree in Africa (a lot to get used to with stalling it out before I got used to it)
The name BORGWARD is still cult here in Germany! There is a bustling, well-connected fan community. With a little contact (clubs, type referents, parts dealers), the required spare parts can be procured. If you drive an Isabella in public here, you’ll trigger the amazed observers. You open a window of time for the people, for a romanticized, longing look back to the “economic miracle” called the “Wirtschaftswunder”… Yes, we Germans should cherish and cultivate our own automotive heritage. Me? Oh, I drive an immaculate ’63 Cad Series 62. Whew. Crap. That’s not very patriotic. Apparently I’m an outsider. Out of inner circle. Doesn’t matter. Ol’ Detroit steel to me it’s real! :)
Carry on dreaming. I drive Borgwards for well over 40 years – if you rely on ” clubs ” or ” dealers “, you will soon find out a) they have not got what you need, b) if they got it, it is a lousy overpriced reproduction.
I drive Borgward – to get from A to B. Not to attract people’s curiosity. And most people do not even know the car or the make.
MB contender (like ford’n cheb) often said derided into that bankruptcy noted above.
Better looking than the benz (to me).
I’m dating myself by saying that I liked to look at my sister’s old Katy Keene comic books in the late fifties and early sixties. It in, both girls and boys would submit their personal concept car drawings. When I saw this Isabella posted for sale, I immediately thought about all those incredible car drawings that the teenager fans created from all across the country!
What was also great, is that the comics posted the names of the creators!
P.S. Thanks to all the writers who accept my submissions, now and in the future! I enjoy reading the follow up comments, both good and bad with each posting from Barn Finds! Regards to all, Ted
My very first car was a Borgward Isabella Combi. I loved it until I rolled it trying to miss a squirrel in Yosemite NP.
I was in the auto sales business in the 1960’s. I don’t know how thes vehicle survived this long. Back then if the body lasted three years it was fantastic. The owner must have keep it in a climat controlles storage to maintainv this. It is built od an experamental high carbon steel that isn;t made any more,
Please do n o t compare a Borgward to cheap and nasty cars. They were well – made and had anti – rust -protection under the wings, many of them were in daily use for 20 or more years.
Nevertheless, nothing is made for eternity…unless you use wax – oil every year…
Visually, the coupe reminds me a bit of the early VW Karmann Ghia. Especially from the rear.
IIRC, Borgward had aspirations and product to rival GM, and a conspiracy to take it down to rival Tucker. I have a 1960 BMW 700 Coupe sitting in the garage, parts will be expensive, it’s the shipping from Europe that may break you.
@solosolo UK : They were marketed as ” Borgward Hansa 1500 “, Borgward Hansa 1800 ” ( and Borgward Hansa 1800 Diesel)- and there were the Borgward Hansa 2400’s as well; I did not even mention them – hardly anybody remembers these gems.
Please look at the diamond of an early Isabella…what is written on it ? Hansa 1500….
” Hansa ” as a make existed until 1930 – but this was not in Bremen, but in Varel / Oldenburg. Hansa – Lloyd in Bremen was taken over by Borgward – the Borgward Hansa 2300 of 1938 was already sold as a Borgward.
Thanks for the update. At nearly 85 years young I still learn something new EVERY day!
Well, you know…I am not a youngster either…a day, on which you did not learn anything, is a wasted day….
The write up is possibly the worst I have ever read, ever heard of research?
Please give us the details of your research into Borgward’s as we would love to know everything about them.
I’m with you, I’m younger 73 and would love to hear all this asteamed expert spokesman has to enlighten me with today!
I am not going to jump through hoops for a bunch of nasty, know nothing wise guys. I merely stated a fact, The article was written in a distrespectful tone and some of the information was incorrect.The amount of books on automobiles I have read would fill a library. Carl F.Borgward was a giant in the history of the automobile, pioneering everything from 3-wheelers to military half tracks, even fuel injection and all under circumstances which were extremely challenging and dramatic He was driven into bankruptcy by the Deutsche Bank and Mercedes under dubious circumstances. The injustice which was done to him seeme to have contributed to his early death. Today the make is being revived by the Chinese conglomerate Foton..
My 5th-6th grade teacher drove one of these in the mid-late 60’s, I thought it was pretty kool
When the BMW Neue Klasse debuted in 1962 they were nicknamed “Bavarian Borgwards” because they went into the same class the Isabella had defined, a step up from an Opel Rekord or Ford Taunus and down from the cheapest Mercedes, and BMW had headhunted Borgward engineering staff. Rumors swirled that the Quandts had a hand in the Der Spiegel hit piece on Borgward (the man and the company) and preventing a bailout; that being said, all Speigel said was true and the West German government saw little need to save auto jobs in Bremen with shipbuilding ramping up as it was.
Don’t forget the Isabella Cabriolet
@Gerard Frederick. Thanks for the update. What you have stated is pretty much exactly what I have read about the demise of Borgward. They try and BS us into believing that Mercedes and BMW had nothing to do with sabotaging Borgward. If they had been left to build cars then they would be up there with the big boys today!
Solosolo UK, thanks for that You are absolutely right, there was a lot of dirty pool being played there.To be sure, Borgward buried himself in too much work and trusted an inciompetent accountant, but nevertheless, without ¨help¨from his friends, he would never have folded. Did you know that he imported Hansa automobiles to the UK in the 1930´s?
No, I didn’t know that, however, there were a lot of Hansa’s, Goliath’s and Lloyd Alexander’s around way back when I lived in South Africa. I very nearly bought an Alexander until I discovered that at 6ft 2in I couldn’t get into it and be even reasonably comfortable. The picture above isn’t the one I wanted to buy
This is the one I was going to buy.
Nice Alexander – or Alexander TS. It should be no problem to get it back on – to the road. The engine would have to be dismantled completely; bakelite of timing – chain – tensioner gets brittle and gets in – to the sump and oil – pump…not the first time I found the debris there. Apart from that, a Lloyd is pretty easy to work on – and a reliable every – day car. Expect a rotten petrol – tank; they always corrode under the felt – straps. New tyres can be used of the Citroen 2 CV. Plain sailing…