1957 Borgward Isabella

Borgward Isabella (Saloon/Estate/Coupe), 1954-1962

The Borgward Isabella was in production from 1954-62. Styled in house, it is a front-engine, rear wheel drive family car range seating four people.

The Isabella was a development name that appealed to factory workers, and Borgward's initial plan to name it the Hansa 1500 after its immediate predecessor was changed at the last minute. Its predecessor had been one of the first new cars to be developed in post-war Germany, and had earned itself a reputation for quality and reliability. The new car, targeted at buyers of the Mercedes-Benz 180, would continue this. Initially only available as a two door saloon, Kombi estate and pretty Coupe models would follow, as would a cabriolet and a pickup. Two four door Isabellas were produced for development purposes but not productionised.

Initial strong production wasn't continued, and developments including the Coupe and the more powerful Isabella TS didn't help matters. By the end of the 1950s the TS engine was available across the entire Isabella range. In 1961 Borgward was forced into liquidation by its creditors - an unusual step, given that there were over 4 million Marks left in the company accounts after all creditors had been paid in full Technically the company had not been insolvent. Borgward was forced out of a market in which it couldn't really compete against the scale of Opel and VW, with higher prices and lower demand accordingly. Following the bankruptcy of Borgward in 1961, production continued into 1962. A number of cars were also built between 1960 and 1963 in Argentina by Borgward subsidiary Dinborg.

When new, the most logical rivals would have been entry level Mercedes products, though the Volkswagen 1500 would have made a worthy alternative toward the end of the Isabella's life. But the closest rivals Borgward had were BMW. It has long been a topic of automotive speculation that Borgward was sacrificed by the receivers post bankruptcy because they had recently revived BMW from a similar fate, and both companies competed for the same market. The BMW 1500 was a natural alternative for buyers after Borgward went bust.