Lloyd 600

Last updated
Lloyd 600 (1955-1961)
Lloyd Alexander (1957-1961)
Lloyd Alexander TS (1957-1961)
Lloyd-Alexander.jpg
Lloyd Alexander (standard)
Overview
Manufacturer Carl F. W. Borgward GmbH
Production176,524
(Lloyd 600 & Alexander combined)
AssemblyGermany
Australia
Body and chassis
Body style 2-door saloon
2-door convertible
2-door station wagon ("Kombi")
2-door panel van
Layout FF layout
Powertrain
Engine 596 cc four-stroke 2-cylinder
(parallel twin)
19/25 PS (HP): 13/18 kW
Transmission 3-speed manual
4-speed manual (Alexander TS)
Dimensions
Wheelbase 2,000 mm (78.7 in)
Length3,355 mm (132.1 in)
Width1,410 mm (55.5 in)
Height1,400 mm (55.1 in)
Curb weight 540–580 kg (1,190–1,279 lb) (empty)
850–910 kg (1,874–2,006 lb) (loaded)

The Lloyd 600 is a small car produced by the Borgward Groups's Lloyd Motoren Werke GmbH (Lloyd Motor Works) in Bremen between 1955 and 1961. [1]

Contents

The Lloyd Alexander was identical to the Lloyd 600 in most respects, but in place of the three speed transmission of the Lloyd 600, the Lloyd Alexander featured a four-speed gear-box (and a higher final drive ratio). The Lloyd Alexander was offered, in parallel with the Lloyd 600, between 1957 and 1961. [2] One difference visible from the outside was that the Lloyd Alexander included an opening hatch into the rear luggage locker, whereas drivers of the Lloyd 600 had to reach behind the rear seat in order to access the luggage locker. [2]

There was also a Lloyd Alexander TS offered between 1958 and 1961 which featured a larger carburetor and a high final drive ratio, as a result of which it offered a maximum power output of 25 PS instead of the 19 PS available from the engine fitted to the Lloyd 600 and standard Lloyd Alexander. [1]

Engine and running gear

Lloyd 600 and Lloyd Alexander

The Lloyd 600 and Lloyd Alexander were powered by an air-cooled two cylinder engine with a chain driven overhead camshaft. Unlike the Lloyd 400 which the Lloyd 600 initially complemented and then - after 1957 - replaced, the newer car featured a four-stroke engine. [3] The cylinders were configured in parallel. The engine capacity of 596cc provided for a maximum power output of 19 PS (14 kW) at 4,500 rpm in the version supplied on the Lloyd 600 and the standard Lloyd Alexander, applying a 6.6:1 compression ratio. The top speed listed was 100 km/h (63 mph) and the car could reach 100 km/h from a standing start in 60 seconds. The car was fueled using "regular" grade petrol/gasoline and when driven normally consumed fuel significantly more frugally than West Germany's best selling small car, the Volkswagen. Space was at a premium in the Lloyd 600 and the 25 litre fuel tank was accommodated ahead of the bulkhead underneath the front hood/bonnet in a space shared with the engine and the six-volt battery. Power was fed to the front wheels via a three-speed manual gear box which used the same ratios as it had on the earlier Lloyd 400 from which it was lifted. [2]


Lloyd 600: Names

Sources sometimes follow the manufacturer in adding a two digit prefix to the name of the Lloyd 600 in order to differentiate between different body types as follows: [2]

  • Lloyd LP 600: Limousine (saloon/sedan)
  • Lloyd LC 600: Cabrio-Limousine (cabriolet)
  • Lloyd LS 600: Kombi (estate/station wagon)
  • Lloyd LK 600: Kastenwagen (panel van)
According to the manufacturer "LP" was short for "Lloyd-Personenwagen" ("Lloyd Passenger-car"). However, it quickly became adapted for the alternative epithet, "Leukoplastbomber", an untranslatable term, heavy with irony, and originally applied to the LP300 in 1952 when the car's outer body was formed not of steel panels but of "plastic" synthetic-leather sections fitted over a timber frame. [1]

The front wheels were suspended from two transversely mounted overlapping leaf-springs, supported by telescopic shock absorbers: the rear wheels were attached to a Swing axle supported with longitudinally mounted leaf springs. [2] The footbrake was controlled using a hydraulic linkage and drum brakes all round. The hand-brake worked on the front wheels and was operated with a cable linkage. [2] The steering employed a rack and pinion mechanism which was conventional at the time. It required 2¼ turns between opposite locks: the turning circle was 10.45 m (34.3 ft). [2]

Lloyd Alexander TS

The Lloyd Alexander TS which appeared in 1958 was easy to differentiate from the basic Lloyd Alexander due to its "semi-elliptical" (more curved edges) front grille. The TS was fitted with an all-synchromesh four-speed gear box. Thanks to the larger carburetor and raised compression ratio – in this application of 7.2:1 – the manufacturer was able to claim a top speed for the Lloyd Alexander TS of 107 km/h (68 mph) and the time to 100 km/h from a standing start was reduced to 56 seconds. [2]

The Lloyd Alexander TS also came with a completely redesigned back axle, which significantly improved the car's handling, and anticipated the rear-suspension configuration on the Lloyd Arabella (which appeared in Lloyd showrooms the next year). [4] The rear axle was attached using semi-trailing arms [5] (generally identified in contemporary sources simply as "trailing arms") with "progressively acting" coil springs. [6] The TS also incorporated detailed enhancements such as the windscreen washer system and, new for 1957, asymmetrically dipping headlight beams.

Body

As with its predecessor, the Lloyd 400, the full name of the Lloyd 600 featured a two letter prefix that identified the body shape as follows: LP600 ("Limousine" / saloon), LC600 ("Cabrio-Limousine" / cabriolet), LK600 (panel van) and LS600 (estate). With the Lloyd Alexander these prefixes were dropped. There was, in any case, no "Cabrio-Limousine" version of the Lloyd Alexander listed.

Ten years earlier, with steel in desperately short supply, Lloyds in this class had been constructed round a timber frame, and covered with synthetic leather, or more recently using a combination of steel panels for the "outer door skins" and fabric covering for parts of the car body not needing the same level of exterior rigidity. This history was reflected in the structural architecture of the newer steel-bodied Lloyd 600 and Lloyd Alexander models. The Lloyd 400 had, since October 1954, used an all-steel body, with panels that were bolted on to the steel frame and were therefore far easier to replace, if necessary, than bent body panels on competitor models from Volkswagen or NSU, constructed with welded steel body shells. This feature was carried over to the Lloyd 600 and Lloyd Alexander. The body sat of a tubular steel chassis.

The windscreen on the Lloyd 600 and Lloyd Alexander models was flat. At the back, however, on all Lloyd saloons/sedans a small flat rear window had been replaced by a full-width curved rear window back in 1954. The doors were hinged at their rear edge through till 1961, by which the arrangement was becoming rare. It facilitated access, at least to the front seats, but by the 1960s people were beginning to express safety concerns over the risk of the doors bursting open while the car was moving.

The Lloyd Alexander saloon / sedan was differentiated from the Lloyd 600 by an external "boot/trunk lid" giving access to the luggage compartment for those unable or unwilling to clamber into the passenger cabin and reach past the back of the back seat. Another visible difference was the windows on the doors, which on the Lloyd Alexander wound down fully into the doors. On the Lloyd 600 only the front half of the two part door window could be opened, sliding horizontally backwards, a lightweight inexpensive arrangement which was replicated in Britain on the first Minis in 1959.

The Lloyd 600 / Lloyd Alexander body offered accommodation in the passenger cabin for four adults, but access to the rear seat was difficult and space cramped, with the width of the back seat reduced by the space taken up by the rear wheel arches. There was more space at the front, although there were criticisms that the steering wheel was too close to the driver. The luggage locker at the back had a total computed capacity of 104 litres.

Lloyd itself still had no heavy presses for stamping body panels from sheet steel. Body panels for the Lloyd 600 and Lloyd Alexander were produced by Allgaier and Karmann and then delivered in bare-metal form to the Lloyd factory in Bremen for machining, assembly and painting.

Commercial


Lloyd 600 and Alexander: Combined output (units) [2]

  • 1955 ..... 7,697
  • 1956 ....35,329
  • 1957 ....45,907
  • 1958 ....47,780
  • 1959 ....34,565
  • 1960 ..... 4,998
  • 1961 ..... 1,246
  • 1962 ............. 2

During the 1950s the small car market in West Germany was increasingly dominated by Volkswagen. In 1955, Volkswagen produced 279,986 passenger cars. Apart from a handful of exotic looking (and exotically priced) vehicles, the passenger cars produced by Volkswagen were all the same shape. The shape had been innovative twenty years earlier, but the architecture and look of the car had changed very little since. The approach of the Borgward Group could hardly have been more different. In 1955 the group produced 91,810 passenger cars, using three different brands and offering a wider range of models than any other West German manufacturer, with models replaced or substantially upgraded every few years. One result of these contrasting approaches was that it was Volkswagen that set the prices in what was still an acutely price sensitive market segment. In March 1954 the price of a standard Volkswagen was reduced to DM 3,950. It came down again, to DM 3,790, in August 1955, a level that it held till 1961. [7]

The standard Lloyd 600 was priced, between 1955 and 1958 at DM 3,680, a price which after 1955 undercut the larger and faster (albeit less fuel efficient and, some felt, more "old-fashioned") Volkswagen by a margin of barely more than DM 100. With the Lloyd Alexander, launched in 1957, there was no attempt to undercut the basic Volkswagen on price. The standard Lloyd Alexander was launched in 1957 with an advertised price of DM 4,060. [2] The Lloyd Alexander TS arrived in 1958 priced at DM 4,330. [2]

Sales analysis differentiating between the Lloyd 600 and the Lloyd Alexander has not been located, but combining the two models gives a sales volume between 1955 and 1961 of 176,524 units. [2] Sales dropped off sharply in 1960 which was the first full year of production for the manufacturer's own new Arabella model. The first NSU Prinz, very similar in terms of size and performance, and priced in 1958 at DM 3,739, managed a production volume of 94,549 units between 1958 and 1962. [8] By 1960 Volkswagen were producing more than 700,000 Beetles in a single year. [7] Their West German competitors were feeling the squeeze.

Australian assembly

The Lloyd 600 was assembled in Australia by a company formed as joint venture between Carl Borgward and Laurence Hartnett in the late 1950s. [9] The car was introduced in December 1957 as the Lloyd-Hartnett and a total of 3000 cars were built before production ceased in 1962. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Eifel</span> Motor vehicle

The Ford Eifel is a car manufactured by Ford Germany between 1935 and 1940. It initially complemented, and then replaced, the Ford Köln. It was itself replaced by the Ford Taunus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volkswagen Type 3</span> Compact car built from 1961 to 1973

The Volkswagen Type 3 is a compact car manufactured and marketed by Volkswagen from 1961 to 1973. Introduced at the 1961 Frankfurt International Motor Show, the IAA, the Type 3 was marketed as the Volkswagen 1500 and later as the Volkswagen 1600, in two-door Notchback, Fastback, and Variant body styles, the latter marketed as the 'Squareback' in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cadillac Series 70</span> Motor vehicle

The Cadillac Series 70 is a full-size V8-powered series of cars that were produced by Cadillac from the 1930s to the 1980s. It replaced the 1935 355E as the company's mainstream car just as the much less expensive Series 60 was introduced. The Series 72 and 67 were similar to the Series 75 but the 72 and 67 were produced on a slightly shorter and longer wheelbase respectively. The Series 72 was only produced in 1940 and the Series 67 was only produced in 1941 and 1942. For much of the postwar era, it was the top-of-the-line Cadillac, and was Cadillac's factory-built limousine offering.

Lloyd Motoren Werke G.m.b.H. was a German automobile manufacturer, created in 1908 and owned by the Norddeutscher Lloyd shipping company. The factory was in Bremen. The company operated under a variety of different names throughout the decades, but their products were nearly always badged with the Lloyd marque. Originally a manufacturer of luxury cars, the company was folded into the Borgward Group in 1929, with the brand not used on passenger cars again until 1950. Production ended for good in 1963, although a successor company continued trading until 1989, selling replacement parts, as well as manufacturing engines for snowmobiles and boats.

Goliath-Werke Borgward & Co. was a German car manufacturer started by Carl F. W. Borgward and Wilhelm Tecklenborg in 1928, and was part of the Borgward group. Goliath was based in Bremen and specialized in three-wheeler cars and trucks and medium-sized cars. Their vehicles were sold under the Goliath brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercedes-Benz W136</span> Motor vehicle

The Mercedes-Benz W136 was Mercedes-Benz's main line of inline-four cylinder motorcars from the mid-1930s into the 1950s. The model 170 V made its public debut as successor to the W15 Typ 170 in February 1936. Between 1936 and 1939 it was Mercedes' top selling model.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volkswagen Golf Mk3</span> Motor vehicle

The Volkswagen Golf Mk3 is a medium-sized compact family car. The third generation of the Volkswagen Golf and the successor to the Volkswagen Golf Mk2, which was produced by Volkswagen from August 1991 to 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borgward Isabella</span> Motor vehicle

The Borgward Isabella is an automobile which was manufactured by the Bremen based auto-manufacturer Carl F. W. Borgward GmbH from 1954 to 1962.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borgward Hansa 2400</span> German car model built 1952-1959

The Borgward Hansa 2400 was an executive six-cylinder saloon (E-segment) presented in 1951, and manufactured by the Bremen based auto-manufacturer Carl F. W. Borgward GmbH from 1952 until 1959. The car was launched as a four-door fastback saloon; a longer-wheelbase notchback version appeared a year later. The Hansa 2400 suffered from teething troubles including inadequate brakes and problems with the automatic transmission Borgward developed for it. In a small closely contested market, the large Borgwards lost out to less flamboyant models from the German south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opel Olympia Rekord</span> Motor vehicle

The Opel Olympia Rekord was a two-door family car which replaced the Opel Olympia in March 1953. Innovations included the strikingly modern Ponton format body-work incorporating numerous styling features from the United States and large amounts of chrome decoration both on the outside and on the inside.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Taunus P1</span> Motor vehicle

The Ford Taunus P1 is a small family car which was produced by Ford Germany from 1952 until 1962. It was marketed as the Ford Taunus 12M, and, between 1955 and 1959, as the larger-engined Ford Taunus 15M. The company produced a succession of Ford Taunus 12M models until 1970, as the name was applied to a succession of similarly sized cars, but the first Taunus 12M models, based on the company's Taunus Project 1 (P1), remained in production only until 1962. In that year the Taunus P1 series was replaced by the Taunus P4 series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glas 1004</span> Motor vehicle

The Glas 1004 is a small two-door, four-seater automobile produced by Hans Glas GmbH at Dingolfing. It was first exhibited in public, in coupé form, at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1961. Volume production of the 1004 coupé started in May 1962, and in January 1963 saloon/sedan and cabriolet versions joined the range along with the more powerful Glas 1204. September 1965 saw a yet more powerful variant, the Glas 1304. In September 1966, a fastback Kombilimousine (estate) was added. The 04s were produced at least until December 1967, and new cars were listed for sale through much of 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adler 2.5-litre</span> Motor vehicle

The Adler 2.5-litre was a sensation when first presented by Adler at the Berlin Motor Show early in 1937, although this did not convert into correspondingly sensational sales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adler Trumpf Junior</span> Motor vehicle

The Adler Trumpf Junior is a small family car introduced by the Frankfurt based auto-maker Adler, early in 1934. The Adler Trumpf had by now been available for two years, and the Trumpf Junior was conceived as a similar but smaller car which would broaden the range and claim a share of a growing market which DKW were creating with their F1 model, and its successors, for small inexpensive front wheel drive cars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mercedes-Benz W142</span> Motor vehicle

The Mercedes-Benz W 142 was a six-cylinder passenger car launched in February 1937, as a successor to the Mercedes-Benz Typ 290. The car was known by its name Typ 320 at the time of its production and service, but is in retrospect commonly referred to using its Mercedes-Benz works number, "W142", which gives a more unambiguously unique nomenclature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lloyd Arabella</span> Motor vehicle

The Lloyd Arabella was a passenger car produced by the Borgward Group in West Germany between 1959 and 1961. After the company's controversial bankruptcy the Arabella continued to be produced, albeit in greatly reduced quantities and branded as the Borgward Arabella until 1963. By the standards of the time and place it would have been defined as a small family car.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lloyd 400</span> Motor vehicle

The Lloyd 400 is a small car produced by the Borgward Group's Lloyd Motoren Werke GmbH in Bremen between 1953 and 1957.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lloyd 300</span> Motor vehicle

The Lloyd 300 was a small car produced by the Borgward Group's Lloyd Motoren Werke GmbH in Bremen between 1950 and 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borgward B 611</span> Motor vehicle

The Borgward B 611 is a light commercial vehicle built by Borgward at their Bremen factory between 1957 and 1961. The nominal load capacity at launch was 1.5 (metric) tons. The vehicle was offered as a light van, a minibus or as a platform truck (Pritschenwagen), though various other body variants were available either directly from the manufacturer or from appropriately specialist vehicle body manufacturers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trabant P 50</span> Motor vehicle

The Trabant P 50, also known as the Trabant 500, is the first series production model of the East German Trabant series, made by VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau. It was produced from 1957 until 1962; in total, 131,495 units were built. In 1962, VEB Sachsenring switched production from the P 50 to the short-lived intermediate model Trabant 600, which combined the exterior styling of the Trabant P 50 with the technical design of the next generation Trabant model, the Trabant 601.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ulf Kaack (2012). Minimalismus auf vier Rädern ... Lloyd LP 600, Alexander, Alexander TS. pp. 77–79. ISBN   978-3-86245-667-3.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Werner Oswald [in German] (2001). Lloyd 600 (1955-1961), Lloyd Alexander (1957-1961). pp. 424–425, 450–451. ISBN   3-613-02131-5.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  3. "Lloyd 600 - Ein neuer Motor". Modellgeschichte der Lloyd Motoren Werke: Kraftfahrzeugbau von 1949 - 1963. Verlag Jan Eggermann. Archived from the original on 9 December 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  4. Werner Oswald [in German] (2001). Lloyd Arabella (1959-1963). pp. 452–453, 424–425. ISBN   3-613-02131-5.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  5. "Technische Informationen: Lloyd Alexander TS 1958". Ing.Gerhard Würnschimmel, Wien. 1958. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  6. "Kurbelachse mit Schraubenfedern - Lloyd 600". workshop manual. Rupert Dangl, Bad Aibling. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  7. 1 2 Werner Oswald [in German] (2003). Volkswagen 1200 Standard-Modell (1954-1964). pp. 20–23, 36–37. ISBN   3-613-02116-1.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  8. Werner Oswald [in German] (2003). NSU (1958-1962). p. 392. ISBN   3-613-02116-1.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  9. 1 2 Davis, Pedr (1986), The Macquarie Dictionary of Australian Motoring, Sydney, NSW: Macquarie Library, p. 278, ISBN   0949757357