| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive design |
| Founded | 1950 |
| Headquarters | Stuttgart, Germany |
| Key people | Egon Brütsch Chairman and Managing Director |
| Products | Automobiles |
Egon Brütsch Fahrzeugbau, usually shortened to Brütsch, was a German automotive design and automaker based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg.
Brütsch were best known for producing a large number of different microcar designs, but only produced small numbers of each design and the primary function of the company appears to have been that of the development and promotion of each design to sell licences to manufacture to other companies.
Between 1952 and 1958, eleven different models of car were manufactured by Brütsch, but the total production of all models by the company is believed to be only eighty-one cars.
Many of the bodywork designs were simple two-piece mouldings of polyester reinforced with fiberglass, bonded at a waistline join, which was then covered by a protective strip. Chassis and suspension design was very rudimentary and after a misguided court action in 1956 by Brütsch against a licensee, at least one of Brütsch's designs was condemned as dangerous. The abbreviated chassis used on the majority of the cars meant that for structural integrity they could not have doors and all these models had low sides to facilitate entry and exit.
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A 3-seater, 3-wheeled roadster, powered by a single cylinder 191 cc Fichtel & Sachs engine driving through a four speed gearbox. Top speed was around 90 km/h (56 mph) and about five cars were produced. Also built under licence by A. Grünhut & Co of Switzerland with minor changes and sold as the Belcar. Another licence was sold to Alzmetall for production by Harald Friedrich GmbH of Germany, but so many faults were found with the original design that their production model, the Spatz Kabinenroller was fundamentally a different car. Because of this Brütsch took Alzmetall to court to ensure payment of his licence fees but lost the case.
A 2-seater, 3-wheeled roadster, powered by a single cylinder 191 cc Fichtel & Sachs engine driving through a four speed gearbox. Top speed was around 85 km/h (53 mph) and twelve cars were produced. Also built under licence by Air Tourist Sàrl of France with minor changes and sold as the Avolette. It is believed that only one example of the 2-seat Zwerg exists in England, awaiting restoration.
A single seat, 3-wheeled roadster, powered by a single cylinder 74 cc DKW Hobby scooter engine driving through a continuously variable transmission. Top speed was around 65 km/h (40 mph) and four cars were produced. one surviving car was ressurected in 2009 and has been restored . currently in Germany
Main article: Brütsch Mopetta
A single seat, 3-wheeled roadster, powered by a single cylinder 49 cc [ILO] engine driving through a three speed gearbox. Top speed was around 45 km/h (28 mph) and fourteen cars were produced. Production was licensed to former Opel dealer Georg von Opel, who planned to build the Mopetta at a former Horex motorcycle factory, however this plan appears to have resulted in nothing more than the production of sales literature. Due to its unusual design and rarity, the Mopetta has been subject to many replicas.
A single seat, 3-wheeled roadster, powered by a single cylinder 98 cc Fichtel & Sachs engine driving through a three speed gearbox. Top speed was around 80 km/h (50 mph) and eight cars were produced. Also built under licence by Air Tourist Sàrl of France.
A 2-seater, 3-wheeled roadster, powered by a single cylinder 191 cc Fichtel & Sachs engine driving through a four speed gearbox. Top speed was around 95 km/h (59 mph) and eleven cars were produced. One of the last known Bussards was recently written off after rotting away in England. Its windscreen, which remained, was donated to the owner of a Brütsch Pfeil (below), which had no original windscreen.
A 2-seater, 4-wheeled roadster, powered by a twin cylinder 386 cc Lloyd engine driving through a three speed gearbox. Top speed was around 110 km/h (68 mph) and six cars were produced, only one of which survives and is undergoing restoration in England.
A 2-seater, 4-wheeled roadster. Powered by either a single cylinder 98 cc Fichtel & Sachs engine giving a top speed around 65 km/h (40 mph) or a single cylinder 247 cc Maico engine giving a top speed around 100 km/h (62 mph). Both versions had a four speed gearbox and in total twelve cars were produced.
A 2-seater, 4-wheeled roadster with doors. Powered by a twin cylinder 479 cc Fiat 500 engine driving through a four speed gearbox. Top speed was around 125 km/h (78 mph) and three cars were produced. This model was developed for potential Indonesian licensee NGO, but the project eventually came to nothing.