In early 1950s many German companies started to produce cars based on VW Beetle, which was doing well that time. In Stuttgart, where Ferdinand Porsche built his Porsche 356 roadster since 1950, soon after the war herr Dannenhauer and his son Kurt Stauss established their coachwork company. Dannenhauer has already had an experience of dealing with Beetles, as he took a part in producing bodies for VW prototypes in 1937.
Having decided to build cars on VW chassis, Dannenhauer charged a body development to a group of engineers who dealed with professor Kamm, famous for his researchements on aerodynamics and first-ever usage of windtunnel for Cx decreasing.
First cars had handmade body panels, made using wooden models - only doors, bonnet and a luggage carrier cover have been stamped. External furnish was set to minimum, according to personal professor Kamm's favour. In 1953 the major restyling was made: front and rear ends increased their volume, windscreen became integral instead of divided on two parts, goffered bumpers became history and Porsche-looking grilles appeared above the engine.
VW Dannenhauer&Stauss Cabriolet looked very sporty, but standard engines providing only 25hp didn't let the car to perform well. Many owners wanted to get a bit more from their sports car, so they applied a conversion set from Okrasa with doubled carburettors, increasing power to 46hp.
There are no exact info on the amount of cars produced by Dannenhauer&Stauss. Trusting D&S enthusiasts, between 1951 and 1957, when the production halted because of the strong competition with VW Karmann Ghia, about 80 to 135 cars were made, 16 of which exist nowadays.
The text is my translation of carpedia.ru article, photos taken from the same source. Sorry for some bad expressions- my English is not perfect.
P.S. Porscheswagen or Volkscshe
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by faksta
