Still in prime original condition and it's a Borgward Isabella 1960.
I had to wait for the owner, and he was glad that I asked him about the car and if I could take photos of it, a very friendly man.
The Borgward Isabella is an automobile which was manufactured by the Bremen based auto-manufacturer Carl F. W. Borgward GmbH from 1954 to 1962.
The Isabella was to have been marketed as the Borgward Hansa 1500 but the Isabella name was used on test vehicles and proved popular with engineering staff and media. The production car was subsequently renamed and only the first few hundred examples were built without Isabella badging. Hansa badging was also used through to 1957.
11,150 Isabellas were produced in 1954, an early indicator that commercially this would be the most successful Borgward ever.
Look how neat is the frontend. One would never say that this is an old car, until you tap on its solid metal body.
White-rimmed, and like I said above, everything on this car is original.
This is where I found the tagline in the first photo, "Forward into the Past".
Not a tear to be seen in the leather upholstery and look at that dash.
Finally, have you noticed something? Look at the driver's wheel and you will see a lever sticking up at the left. That lever controls the gearshift. I think it is one up for first gear, two down with the lever pulled forward toward the steering wheel, and then the lever lifted halfway up and away from the steering wheel to push the lever up into third gear, and then straight down for fourth gear.
How do I know how to shift that gear lever? Simple, I am a 54 model:)
In the sixties I used to drive a car with the same gear lever system, I think it was a Peugeot, but that is too long ago for me to remember. My favorite transport was my Triumph Motorbike. My children are still hooked on my sixty's music.
Such is life.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures of the car and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
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