MBMC: Special Newsletter - October 2021

Autocult manages to surprise us again this month, with the release of the 1:43 model of the 1936 bus, with a streamlined body made by the coachworks of Vetter, in Germany, a specialist in the production of streamlining coach bodies back then.

In order to understand the shape of this Mercedes-Benz Lo3750 streamline bus, and those of quite a few buses and cars made as early as 1933/34, one has to understand the historical and technological context.

From the end of the XIXth  century up to the Nineteen-Twenties, in the infancy times of the automobile, the shapes of just about every horseless vehicles were derived or rather an evolution of the coaches, carriages and horsedrawn vehicles known to humanity before.

To really simplify matters, we are talking here about a squared box on wheels, regardless of its size. This horseless carriage had also to use the same roads, which to a large extent were not much different than the ones built since centuries.

As more and more people purchased faster and faster cars (please, don’t compare “faster speeds” from back then to the ones of today!), the calls for better roads and less flying dust or depending of the weather mud, grew louder and louder the world over, not only from automobile makers, drivers, and tire manufacturers, but even more from bicyclists and pedestrians.

In a push for better roads, the “Ligue contre la poussière de rue”, the “League against street dust”, created in 1904 by the private physician of the Prince of Monaco, advocated the tarring and asphalting of roads, an undertaking which the French State took over in 1919 for its national roads and in 1926 for the departmental (regional) roads.

A first expressway, actually more for his and his wealthy neighbours’ personal convenience than for the general public , was built in the USA by William K. Vanderbilt II, from Mineola just outside of New-York City to the Ronkonkoma Lake on Long Island, a 45 km long remarkably modern achievement inaugurated in 1908, named the “Long Island Motor Parkway” (or also – rather unfortunately – the “LIMP” ).

The construction of modern roads, streets and of highways really took off across Europe after World War I, in many ways first to fight massive unemployment, the hyperpinflation of 1923 in Germany,  and  then the Great Depression. The first highway really worthy of that name was actually built in Italy, between Milan and Gallarte near Lake Como, and officially opened in September 1924. The first German “Schnellstrasse” – a precursor of the later “Autobahns” – from Cologne to Bonn, was inaugurated by the then Lord-Mayor of Cologne, Conrad Adenauer, on August 6th 1932, and was followed by the first 22 km long stretch of real “Autobahn” between Frankfurt-am-Main and Darmstadt, opened on May 19th 1935.

Although at first the “Deutsche Reichsbahn”, i.e. the German Railways were skeptical, not to say rather dismissive about the highways, which was considered  competition,  they soon developed a growing interest in their use. The highway network was now seen as an excellent and, compared to trains, much more economical means, (but not necessarily cheaper means for the user) to connect smaller cities with newly developed  streamlined high-speed coaches, and thus the “Reichsbahn” became one of the best customers of these buses, the bodies of which were all built by specialized coachbuilders. So much for a quick overview of the historical context. (*)

“Streamlined”: a word inseparable from Paul Jaray

Born in Vienna in 1889, Paul Jaray enroled in some of the earliest university level studies of aeronautics offered. His doctorate of engineeering in hand, he went to work for the Zeppelin Company in Friedrichshafen, which according to period accounts was “a morass of intrigues and complacency” (nowadays we would call this a “toxic work environment”). This is where he  -  despite all the encountered problems and no support -  reingeneered the existing Zeppelin airship designs (LZ120, built 1919), giving them instead of the customary mailing tube shape a teardrop structure in cross section, making them stronger and faster. Having left Zeppelin for the car industry at the end of WWI, he was awarded a patent for a car shape using sheet steel and aluminum. As a chassis for his car, he used the “Ley” model T6 car, made by the “Rudolf Ley Automobilfabrik AG.” in Arnstadt.The result was a comically tall and narrow car with the same teardrop cross-section he had advocated at Zeppelin. As comical as it was, the car’s drag coefficient was only an astounding 0.29.  

for the year 1922 The company’s report proudly  states: "In 1922, Ley set a milestone in automotive history by building the first streamlined car." 

 

By 1927 Jaray had an office in New-York, and owned a US-Patent on streamlining.

With his ideas, he attracts the attention of Hans Ledwinka  [see the Tatra T77, T87 and T97], Ferdinand Porsche [Volkswagen Type 1], and others, who incorporate Jaray’s ideas into their production cars. The Audi Front (1934), the Mercedes-Benz 200 (1934), the Opel 2L (1936), the Maybach SW35 (1935 +1936), the DKW F9 Prototyp (1939), even Peugeots, all had a version of their cars streamlined according to the Jaray principles.

Paul Jaray had also worked on the streamlining of buses, particularly of coaches connecting various cities.

Walter Vetter went into business for himself at the age of 26 with seven employees and founded a vehicle and bodywork factory in 1922. In this period after the First World War, vehicle technology and manufacturing methods of vehicle construction developed at a rapid pace. This development of automotive engineering also encompassed styling (in new German: "das Design"), and affected all types of vehicles, from passenger cars to buses, airplanes, and special-purpose vehicles. Countless experimental vehicles were built, and solutions were found that represented a real step forward, some of which still resonate today. Among these are the streamlined bodies.

Vetter, who placed special emphasis on customer wishes, and was careful to offer only the best quality, did not have as a company motto "Vetter buses made to measure" for nothing. (more about Vetter at the end.)

One of Vetters most important purchasers of buses bodied according to Jaray’s designs was Daimler-Benz for coaches destined to service the branchlines of the Reichsbahn, which the German Railways were going to service by rapid bus lines, rather than by commuter trains.

Daimler-Benz supplied the chassis to Vetter, who would then add the custom streamlined body.  Some of these were done in the upcoming COE trend, some with the traditional protruding engine compartment up front (which Germans actually prefered to see on their trucks and buses). All of them however followed Jaray’s ideas and despite some slight diffrences in design, all of them resembled each other.

As mentioned earlier, the large manufacturers applied Jaray’s ideas to their production cars as well. In that regard, it is noteworthy that the 1936 produced  by Vetter on the chassis of the Opel 2 Liter,  in particular its front, looked design-wise exactly like the 1936 Mercedes-Benz Lo3750 coach.

Except on the “silver arrows” racecars, not every one liked the streamlined shapes. in addition, it seems that the fuel savings were of little interest to the customers, as the fac-simile of an article published in the journal “Motor Kritik” No. 6 of 1936 stated:

“The manufacturer” claims that the buyer has so little interest in the fuel-efficient motor vehicle shape that it is unprofitable to manufacture, and “the buyer” blames “the manufacturer” for not supplying him with a version at an affordable price.

Follows a comparison of the fuel savings between the regular production 2L Opel and the same  Opel 2L car, but with a Vetter-streamlined body, measured at different speeds on the Autobahn. At around 10% difference, it was not negligible.

Another consideration for the lack of customer appeal was definitely the streamlined   shape: for the vast majority of potential customers, these cars just looked too weird. Only one had a decent sales record, the Adler 2,5 Liter, (steel body by Ambi-Budd, Berlin) with 5,295 cars sold between 1937 and 1940. The DKW F9 would certainly also have been a success, but it did not come out until 1939. It became a success with slight modifications from 1953 as the DKW F91 in the Federal Republic of Germany, and from 1955 as the IFA F9 in the GDR.

In any event, Paul Jaray’s influence on car and coach designs nevertheless was evident, and still remains to this day in one form or another.                     

<< Mercedes Lo2600  (Aufbau Kässbohrer) 

Mercedes-Benz Lo3750 Stromlinie VETTER -  IAMA Berlin 1938

 

The model:

Autocult has reduced this Mercedes Lo3750 bus (in 1:43) faithfully. It is a must have model for any bus or coach collector, in particular since it reflects the “streamline” period of automotive design between both Worldwar I and II, a period which saw massive developments not only in technology, but in design… and customer tastes as well.

These developments and the progress achieved at that time continue to reverberate to this day.

 

For your interest, this addendum:  a verbatim quote from the "Works History of the Karosserie Vetter Company":

...In 1932, racing driver Manfred von Brauchitsch wants to take part in the ADAC's famous Avus race in Berlin. But equipped with a body designed by König-Fachsenfeld and built by Vetter, von Brauchitsch's SSKL achieves a then legendary average speed of 194.4 km/h and wins by a landslide. This brings much praise and recognition. His company receives further orders for streamlined bodies for racing and normal passenger cars, which his employees build on a wide variety of chassis. He also had his own Mercedes fitted with a streamlined body... Walter Vetter being a tinkerer, he wanted to push the streamline even further. Together with König-Fachsenfeld, he therefore developed a streamlined body for buses, which he presented for the first time in 1935. It was based on a Mercedes Lo3750, which achieved a top speed of 110 km/h thanks to Vetter's streamlined body, powered by a standard OM 67/3 diesel with 100 hp. The Vetter body is distinguished by its unequally harmonious lines, masterfully combining the Jaray teardrop shape with the so-called K-tail developed by Professor Kamm. This means that the rear of the bus is not perfectly aerodynamic, but in this case the visual appearance was more important to the developers. Another characteristic that will distinguish all Vetter streamlined buses is the three-part windshield with the small central window. It goes directly back to an idea of Professor Jaray. It quickly became clear that Walter Vetter had once again had the right idea. Customers were enthusiastic about the streamlined bus, and numerous orders were received.

All model shots: Pre-production sample

In addition, the new express bus lines of the freeway network that was just being built did the rest to increase the demand for fast streamlined buses...

Sources: Mercedes-Benz AG; Archiv Firma Karosserie Vetter; „Vetter - die Geschichte eines Lebenswerkes“; Konrad Auwärter GmbH & Co. KG.; „Motor Kritik“ 1936; Archiv Adler Werke; Deutsche Reichsbahn; Archiv Ley Automobil Fabrik, Wikipedia, others/andere.

Photos: Alamy, Mercedes-Benz, Opel AG, Vetter, Kässbohrer.

Special thanks to Volkhard Stern for the Reichsbahn Schnellbus.

Notes: All scale model pictures are from pre-production models.

(*): Custom bodies supplied mostly made by: Vetter, Gaubschad, Wendler, Kässbohrer, Erdmann & Rossi, Ludewig, Ürdingen, NWF, und Sindelfingen

Bonus: Hereafter a newspaper report from 1934 about Streamline and the Mercedes-Benz 200 Jaray.

As a reminder, Autocult released this car as a 1:43 model some time ago. As far as I know, there are none left, but whoever has this model in his collection may be interested to read the article and may take a new look at his model while reading this report. (On the next 2 pages).

Sorry: this report is only available in German.

Mercedes-Benz express bus prototype Lo 3100 from 1934 at the south exit of Frankfurt Central Station.
 
Photo: Volkhard Stern private collection, Bonn.
 

 

(с)BERND D. LOOSEN