1954 WD Denzel 1300

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I shared a video and some images of a Denzel powered VW Beetle and, if I'm honest, I knew very little about Denzel.

RM Sotheby's are offering this Denzel 1300 in their forthcoming sale at Monaco on 26th April. One of 65 made, with only around 30 thought to survive.

Sotheby's - "Founded by the Austrian engineer Wolfgang Denzel in 1948, Denzel Automobiles was an early Porsche competitor in post-war Europe. Constructing a first car with his friend Hubert Stroinigg, Wolfgang borrowed key design prompts from the Volkswagen Beetle-derived Kübelwagen and built the body from resin and textile fibres. Dubbed “the Volkswagen WD Equipment”, it finished 1st in its class in the 1949 Austrian Alpine Rally"

"Denzel built a further five examples from 1949 to 1952, at which point the Series II was launched, which featured a chassis made by the Denzel Company and engines from Porsche’s popular 356. WD Denzels would go on to compete in rallies and races across Europe in the 1950s and 1960s, including the Rallye Monte-Carlo and Tour de France Automobile.

In the early 1950s, Denzel had a chance meeting with Portuguese aristocrat Antonio Guedes Herédi, who fell in love with the Austrian’s concept and decided to become a main agent for the cars, founding Auto Portuguesa of Lisbon"

"Chassis number DK28 was one of the handful of WD Denzel 1300s supplied new by Auto Portuguesa. This example was registered on 15 April 1954 to first owner Mr Joaquim Filipe Nogueira with the licence plate “FH-20-49”. Nogueira was a famous Portuguese racing driver and, during his career, drove a Ferrari 225 S Vignale Spider, Ferrari 750 Monza, Ferrari 250 MM, Porsche 550 Spyder, and a Maserati 300S. Nogueira, a serious competitor, found success with his new Denzel, competing in 13 events in 1954. The first outing, the Rali a Aveiro, took place just one day after the Denzel was road registered and he finished in 1st place. Competing in the support race at the 1954 Tangier Grand Prix and finishing 2nd, Nogueira went on to secure various class wins and overall victories throughout the 1954 season"









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