This is a rare 1957 Spohn DV-13 Convertible, it’s a coachbuilt German car based on a 1939 Ford chassis, and powered by a Cadillac V8. The styling is somewhat, let’s say unique, and as a result it’s become a bit of a celebrity in its own right.
Before WWII, Hermann Spohn Karosseriebau had been one of the preeminent coachbuilding companies in Germany, building bodies for the likes of Maybach, Mercedes-Benz, Bugatti, Hispano-Suiza, and others. After the war the company turned to building custom bodies to the design of American GIs in Germany, and some truly strange four-wheeled creations would result.
Fast Facts: The Spohn DV-13 Convertible
- This 1957 Spohn DV-13 Convertible is a custom car built in Germany on a 1939 Ford chassis with a 331 cubic inch Cadillac V8. Its distinctive design, featuring steel bodywork, double-stacked headlights, and flamboyant tailfins, reflects the postwar Spohn style, shaped heavily by American GIs seeking personalized automobiles to send home to the USA.
- Spohn Karosseriebau was founded in 1920 and gained prominence building elegant bodies for Maybach, Bugatti, and Mercedes-Benz. After WWII, it shifted toward eccentric, American-influenced customs for US servicemen. The DV-13 marks one of its final projects before the company ceased operations in the late 1950s.
- The car features period Ford underpinnings, including solid axles, transverse leaf springs, and drum brakes. Despite its theatrical appearance, the DV-13 is mechanically conventional, and the steel body’s craftsmanship hints at the firm’s coachbuilding expertise from the pre-WWII era.
- Bought by Wayne Carini and Ralph Marano in 2012, the car gained national fame on the Chasing Classic Cars TV show and won awards for its outlandish exterior. Displayed at prominent concours events, it’s now being sold at no reserve on Bring a Trailer, complete with documentation and spares.
History Speedrun: Hermann Spohn Karosseriebau
Hermann Spohn Karosseriebau was founded in Ravensburg, Germany, in 1920 by master coachbuilder Hermann Spohn. The company quickly established itself as one of Germany’s foremost custom body builders, earning a reputation for high-quality craftsmanship and for a willingness to take on unusual bespoke commissions.
The tail fins you see on the Spohn Veritas Sportster in the about image became one of the firm’s signature style elements in the post-WWII years. Image courtesy of Hermann Spohn Karosseriebau.
Spohn’s close working relationship with Maybach was central to his fledgling firm’s success during the interwar years – nearly all of Maybach’s chassis from the 1920s through the 1940s were bodied by Spohn, including the famous SW 38 and DS8 Zeppelin models, which were typically fitted with striking limousine, cabriolet, or landaulet bodies.
Spohn’s style during this early period was typically formal and conservative, in-keeping with its elite European clientele. However their work wasn’t limited to just Maybach, Spohn also bodied chassis from Mercedes-Benz, Horch, Bugatti, Steyr, and other luxury marques. In a competitive coachbuilding scene that included Erdmann & Rossi, Reutter, and Gläser – Spohn managed to hold on to its desirable position as Maybach’s preferred partner.
Following Hermann Spohn’s death in 1923, leadership had passed to his widow and then later to master craftsman Josef Neher who worked at the company – he was the man who guided the company through its most prolific years. By the late 1930s, the rise of mass production and the looming darkness of WWII began to restrict the coachbuilding trade, and during World War II, Spohn’s operations, like many others, were redirected toward the war effort.
After the war, Spohn re-emerged with a drastically different design language. Under Neher’s direction, the firm began building highly stylized, often flamboyant bodies for American GIs stationed in Germany.
These designs – characterized by exaggerated fins, teardrop fenders, and chrome flourishes – were inspired by American trends but interpreted through Spohn’s European sensibilities. GIs could sit down in the Spohn offices and work out their own unique design, which would then be made real and fitted to their preferred chassis.
Perhaps the most famous of these is the 1957 Spohn-bodied Veritas with tailfins and faux jet intakes, a car often cited as an example of over-the-top postwar coachwork. A significant part of the reason for the popularity of these custom cars was the fact that once a GI had their car built, the military would ship it back to the United States for them for free.
Spohn’s early work wasn’t limited to just Maybach, they also bodied chassis from Mercedes-Benz, Horch, Bugatti, Steyr, and many other luxury marques. Image courtesy of Hermann Spohn Karosseriebau.
Despite the creative efforts of the company, demand for custom coachbuilding had declined sharply by the late 1950s. Spohn ceased coachwork operations not long after, bringing an end to nearly 40 years of automotive craftsmanship, a history that was marked by two very distinct periods before and after WWII.
Today, the company’s surviving cars are rare and often polarizing – some love them and some hate them – but regardless what you might think of their aesthetics you’d doubtless take a second look if one pulled up to the gas pump next to you.
The Spohn DV-13 Convertible
The Spohn DV-13 Convertible is believed to be one of the last cars made by Hermann Spohn Karosseriebau before it went under. The car is one of those specials that is believed to have been designed, or co-designed by an American GI – and it was built on a 1939 Ford chassis and running gear.
The body almost resembles two cars that have been vertically squashed together, and it’s been known to have made professional automotive designers turn to drink. That said, there’s nothing more grotesque than soulless conformity – and no one could ever accuse this car of being anything other than entirely unique.
Although it looks like one of those wild 1950s-era fiberglass creations, the body is said to be made entirely from steel – an impressive achievement considering the level of complexity. The double-stacked headlight and grille arrangement does take some getting used to, as do those somewhat prominent fins on the back which had become a bit of a Spohn trademark by the late-1950s.
Power is provided by a 331 cubic inch (5.4 liter) Cadillac V8 which sends power back to the rear wheels via a Ford 3-speed manual transmission. It rides on front and rear live axles, as you would expect for a pre-WWII Ford, and it has transverse leaf springs and triangulated torsion bars at front and rear, as well as front and rear drum brakes.
Interestingly, this car was bought by Wayne Carini of the popular TV show Chasing Classic Cars and his friend Ralph Marano in 2012 out of the Miami-based Dezer Collection. It then appeared in an episode of Chasing Classic Cars, before winning the Camille Jenatzy Award for the “Most Audacious Exterior” at the 2013 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.
There’s nothing more grotesque than soulless conformity – and no one could ever accuse this car of being anything other than entirely unique.
The car would later be shown at the 2014 Boca Raton Concours, and it appeared at the AACA Library. As a result of all this, the car has become a bit of a celebrity in its own right, and it’s now one of the most recognizable cars built by Spohn.
It’s now being offered for sale on Bring a Trailer out of Portland, Connecticut at no reserve with a set of spare gauges and a clean New Jersey title. If you’d like to read more about it or place a bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
