If you are no older than 25, you probably haven’t heard of Borgward. This brand was popular back in the day, to be precise in 1960’s Germany. Unfortunately, it failed, and soon enough it went out of business.
Nowadays thanks to a fat Chinese investment this German automaker is making a comeback. Resurrection is almost complete if you take a look at what they’ve presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show! Instead of focusing on SUVs which was the company’s strong suit now they have introduced a vehicle completely different from that. Some would say that this concept car is quite unique when compared to pretty much any car on the road today in the world.
Dubbed Isabella it gave back life to a name that was used for Borgward’s most popular model in 1950s. The Borgward Isabella was a coupe produced between 1954 and 1962, and it was pretty hot in its prime days.
Some sixty years later the company presented a modern interpretation in the form of Isabella concept car. It is supposed to run on an electric powertrain and it has enough seats for four people. Everyone agrees that the design is least to say futuristic as the doors slide back and forth which is an innovation to how you get in and out of the vehicle. Of course, almost immediately car connoisseurs present at the event questioned the possibility of producing such vehicle. We believe that it won’t happen most likely but remember Tesla X’s falcon-wing doors? That sounded crazy but crazy is what we need, right?
On the front end of the vehicle, designers gave the Borgward Isabella a face. Prominent headlights combined with the logo in the middle look like a face and this is due to substantial layering. It may appear convoluted, but when you step back and look at it as a whole, it looks gorgeous.
On the back, we find curved glass windscreen which gives out a retro vibe whereas wing mirrors haven’t found their way to this car, but instead Isabella has hidden cameras which stream back to the driver, and they play the role of side mirrors. Quite innovative won’t you say? Imagine what the infotainment system would look like on this beauty. Oh right, you won’t have to imagine because we also have pictures of the interior.
When it comes to cabin designers paid just as much attention to it as they did to the exterior. The company aimed at that ‘folded layer’ design used on the exterior and they transferred it perfectly into the cabin. The infotainment system looks clean and modern, the overall design is kind of simplistic but gorgeous. Seats are somewhat similar to those found in Volvos as they appear to be taken out of the Scandinavian book of design. Take one look at the pedals, and you’ll see that even those are stylized.
No details were revealed about the electric powertrain, and we don’t even know when this car is going to enter production. The company kept quiet about a lot of things. We asked whether they will later develop this vehicle outside of the SUV trim, but we got no answer.
However, if we gather from the behind-the-scenes video we clearly see that Borgward developed a unique platform with inboard suspension and underbody batteries and it really looks driveable. It isn’t just a shell with seats and an LCD screen inside. We believe that we will see this thing on the road in the near future.
The company has already launched two SUVs in China. Those are the Borgward BX7 and BX5, and since they made their debut there, it is clear that they are aiming at Europe now. Unfortunately for them, they’ll have to face rivals such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz so it will be quite a fight for their place among other automakers.
We interviewed Anders Warming who is a member of the management board and chief design officer of Borgward Group AG. He claimed that the Isabella Concept “…is a modern interpretation of the legendary and beautiful Borgward Isabella.”
Creating stylistic synergies between beauty and technology was what they wanted according to Warming.
What do you make of this vehicle? Be sure to leave a comment down below!
