MEET THE OWNER – JOHN WALLIS AND HIS BORGWARD P100

If the fates had been kinder, the name "Borgward" would have been as familiar to 2024 drivers as Audi or BMW. John Wallis, a long-term devotee of the German marque, has recently become the custodian of the P100 ‘Big Six' - Borgward's last hurrah and a car with the potential to be one of the finest big saloons of its generation.

In the 1950s, motorists worldwide associated Borgward with the 1.5-litre Isabella, which debuted in 1954 and quickly became known as one of the finest cars in its class. The Bremen firm also made the 2400 Hansa Pullman for managing directors, business owners, and affluent lawyers.

As Auto Motor und Sport magazine pointed out, the P100 was due to the “very personal will and market assessment” of company's owner, Dr. Carl Borgward. It debuted at the 1959 Frankfurt Motor Show under the modest slogan: "The Great Borgward". With its vestigial tail fins and sharp lines, the styling was in the contemporary 'German American' idiom; large Opels of that era had a similar appearance.

One major talking point was the 2,240cc straight-six engine derived from the Isbella's unit. Another was the all-new design of air suspension, which was initially optional but subsequently became a standard fitting. The set-up used bellows on each wheel, filled by a compressor in the engine compartment via a reservoir. The result was passengers were insulated from poor road surfaces and compensation for side roll when cornering or the front ‘diving’ when braking.

As the P100 was a very ambitious design it was inevitably not a cheap proposition in its homeland. The price was DM 12,500 when more downmarket Opel Kapitan and, more ominously for Borgward, the equally new Mercedes-Benz 220 were more affordable. However, Auto Motor und Sport wrote: “We consider the new 2.3-litre from Bremen to be more than just an interesting addition to the six-cylinder class. Carl F.W. Borgward's daring is worthy of all honour - it is a good stimulus for the industry.

John's Big Six is one of a handful of RHD UK-market cars, as import duties inflated the price to £2,395 5s 10d; in Germany, it cost the equivalent of £1,060. By contrast, the Jaguar Mk. IX was just £2,043, and the Rover P5 3-Litre was £1,864. At least your friendly local Borgward dealer could tell you that the M-B 220S was £2,524.

And the P100 received considerable praise from the British motoring press. Autocar thought its suspension "very successful without being revolutionary in its behaviour". They further believed the P100 would "attract buyers by virtue of its performance". Charmingly, the cabin was so spacious "a hat could be worn by a person of average height" - still a vital consideration for many drivers in 1960.

The Motor was less concerned with headgear but thought the P100 a "fast, refined and beautifully appointed big brother to the famous Isabella", and John Bolster of Autosport regarded the road holding and suspension “in a class of their own". The Daily Telegraph of 11 October 1960 even reported on Borgward’s plans to open a plant in Scotland.

Yet just 2,547 examples departed the factory when production ended in July 1961. By the late 1950s, Borgward suffered from a confusing sales structure, cash-flow issues, and management problems. It would also be fair to describe Dr. Borgward, as "mercurial" - one of his sayings was "Five minutes before I take in money, I spend it". To make matters worse, by 1959, the Bundeswehr (armed forces), one of Borgward's primary customers for commercial vehicles, had started to look elsewhere for their lorries.

The collapse of Borgward was the subject of recriminations between the company and the Bremen government. At the same time, much of the Isabella's customer base opted for the latest BMW 1500 'Neue Klasse'. As for the Big Six, one German motoring title believed: “Restoring a malfunctioning P100 is a kind of psychological thriller and searching for spare parts is a fulfilling part-time job. It is not necessary to be as stubborn as a P100 driver like Carl F.W. Borgward. But it helps.”

Happily, John, the previous owner of a 2400 Pullman, has no such fears. He says: “A former club member, Peter Clark, who had over 40 cars and bikes, became very ill with Parkinson's disease, and his family arranged the sale of his collection. I had known the P100 for around 40 years when a Borgward Drivers' Club official bought the car. It later was exported to Germany, only to be reimported by Mr Clark in 2017. He never drove the car, and it was in his garage until I bought it 16 months ago.

In terms of road manners, John finds the P100 very advanced for its age: “Although the basic running gear had been used for some time, the body and its detachment from the basic components were a huge advance for Borgward. In my view, while the Isabella is a 1950s car, the P100 feels like a 1970s one.”

John also delights in the P100's many details – the bolsters for the front and rear seats and the heating system with its elaborate dial and separate fan for the back window. He finds the four-on-the-column gearchange inferior to the Isabella, but the suspension gives a smooth ride, and the P100 "feels so much younger than its age".

From a 2024 perspective, a P100 looks like a car that has come in from the cold - the sort of vehicle that would grace the backgrounds of Funeral in Berlin or The Quiller Memorandum. It is a saloon with a sense of, if not menace, slight foreboding. Happily, John finds that "people think the car handsome and love the fins and seat design".

Most importantly, the P100 is a car of vast ambition, with suspension that predates the 1961 'air sprung' Mercedes-Benz 300SE. As to whether the Bremen system is superior to the Stuttgart cars, John observes, "Due to the chassis advances, I don't know if it is better than the 300SE or not. I think a back-to-back test is needed."

Not least to test each car's hat-wearing qualities. Watch this space...

With thanks to: John Wallis and https://www.borgward.org.uk/.