After more than 60 years, the coachbuilder for luxury automobiles Erdmann & Rossi is back. Coachbuilders worldwide can reproduce Erdmann & Rossi models under license.
The licensor is Automobile Erdmann & Rossi Licensing Services KG, based on Kurfürstendamm in Berlin. Selected coachbuilders can acquire the right to place faithful replicas of Erdmann & Rossi bodies on historic chassis. The company concentrates on rebuilding models that were lost during the war or post-war period. All vehicles are supplied with a certificate of quality and history. The first licensed vehicle has already been sold.
"Erdmann & Rossi is an important part of German automotive history. I am delighted that, together with our licensing partners, we can help a Berlin luxury brand with a great tradition to shine again," says Managing Director Dr. Arthur Waldenberger. "We are seeing a worldwide trend towards individual historic luxury vehicles. With our help, expertly handcrafted, high-quality one-offs are being created. Our aim is to re-establish Erdmann & Rossi in the luxury segment as a brand for connoisseurs."
In 1906, Erdmann & Rossi specialized in the modification and construction of car bodies for well-known luxury brands of the time such as Mercedes, Minerva and Hispano-Suiza. The products ended up with show stars, politicians and even the high nobility. After 1918, the range was extended to include bodies for vehicles such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Maybach and Bugatti.
In the 1930s, Erdmann & Rossi was the official representative of Rolls-Royce and Bentley for Germany and the company name was well known. The company had a decisive influence on the German touring car style of those years. In terms of design, Erdmann & Rossi incorporated influences from Art Deco and Bauhaus. Under chief designer Johannes Beeskow, Erdmann & Rossi experimented with the streamline as early as the beginning of the 1930s, a form that became a worldwide trend at the end of the 1930s.
In 1943, Erdmann & Rossi's production facilities in Berlin-Halensee were badly damaged in bombing raids. It was no longer possible to continue building luxury cars after that. In 1949, Erdmann & Rossi did produce one last body based on a Maybach chassis. After that, however, Erdmann & Rossi ceased body construction, as there was no longer a sufficiently large market for individual luxury bodies.
The "Erdmann & Rossi" brand has been protected in many countries since 2011 and now, 62 years after the last body was built, Automobile Erdmann & Rossi KG is venturing a new start.
Further information can be found on the official website.
