Borgward B 2000
The former Borgward car manufacturing company, based in Bremen, Germany, was founded by Carl F. W. Borgward (1890–1963). It produced cars of four brands, which were sold to a diversified international customer base: Borgward, Hansa, Goliath and Lloyd. Borgward’s Isabella was one of the most popular German premium models in the 1950s, while Lloyd’s Alexander / Lloyd 600 model offered affordable mobility to many working-class motorists. The group ceased operations in 1961, following controversial insolvency proceedings.
The brand was revived in the 21st century, with the Stuttgart-based Borgward Group AG designing and marketing cars manufactured in China. After struggling to remain solvent, it also filed for bankruptcy in 2022.
The origins of the company go back to 1905 with the establishment in Varel (near Bremen) of Hansa Automobilgesellschaft and the foundation in Bremen itself of NAMAG, maker of the Lloyd car. These two businesses merged in 1914 to form the “Hansa-Lloyd-Werke A.G.”
After the war, in the troubled economic situation then confronting Germany, the business failed to prosper and by the late 1920s faced bankruptcy. For Carl Borgward, already the successful creator of the Goliath-Blitzkarren business, the misfortunes of Hansa-Lloyd presented an opportunity to greatly expand the scope of his auto business, and he took control of it.
The first vehicle Carl Borgward designed was the 1924 Blitzkarren (lightning cart), a tiny three-wheeled van with 2 hp (1.5 kW), which was successful in the market gap it filled. Traders with a small budget bought it for delivery. The Reichspost ordered many of them for postal service.
