Jalopnik
We had another nail-biter yesterday, with the Subaru XT6 edging out the BRAT by a 234 to 228 vote count in the Choose Your Eternity poll. We're going to declare that one a tie, and that's a good thing; after all, what's Hell without difficult choices? Today we're going to park a pair of European machines just inside the gates of Hades, where they will beckon enticingly to you with their only-one-in-town obscurity and double-take-inspiring appearance. It's lots of fun having an oddball car whose mere presence makes onlookers question your sanity respect your taste in fine automobiles, and either of these two could be a life sentence highly fulfilling project. Thanks to HotRodElectric and Franzouse for the tips!
You love wagons, we love wagons, everyone loves wagons! But old Detroit station wagons are a dime a dozen, and parts obtainment is just too darned easy. You need something European, preferably from a defunct manufacturer and packed with weird engineering. We've definitely got you covered here, and we're sure that once you lay eyes on this 1961 Borgward Hansa 1100 Wagon" (go here if the ad disappears) you'll be a believer in a boxer-four-powered 47-year-old hearse-esque German wagon! Don't worry about the body, because it's "almost free of rust," and your Subaru-driving friends will be envious of your wagon's engine: "Subaru bought the blueprints and maybe some tooling too. I am told it uses a VW 36 horse cam and crank." Imagine the fun of getting this engine of dubious ancestry running again (normally we'd advise swapping in a turbocharged Subaru mill, but it would be a sin to dump an engine this hopeless rare). Best of all, the Project Car Hell meme continues to gain fresh territory: "Need a small hearse to carry you off to project car hell?" You bet you do!
They made Borgwards in Mexico into the 70s, so you might be able to get some parts for that Hansa without having to pay vast amounts for shipping, which means you could be taking the easy way out with that car. How about a machine that wasn't even sold in North America, a machine that will raise, then dash, your hopes repeatedly as you scour the world for parts, all the while taunting you with the fact that it was built by one of the world's major manufacturers and should be easier than this? Come on down to eBay and drop a big bid on this 1971 Peugeot 304! There's no reserve price, and the top bid is sitting at $100 with only a couple days to go. Come on, a 37-year-old front-wheel-drive French sedan that's been sitting since 1990... for a hundred smackers? You can't go wrong! We're a bit put off by the seller's punctuation and spelling (where's the traditional eBay CAPS LOCK, not to mention the requisite "i saw restored one a thees go for $$$49000$$$ dollars resently" statement?) but the spare transmissions, heads, etc. compensate for that drawback. And hey, the seller says "it was every bit as reliable and efficient as, and much more "substantial" than, my 77 Honda Accord," so you figure it will be a bulletproof daily driver once you've got it running again!
Comments
"The car has been sitting in my backyard...I think for the better part of 18 years. (The license plate sticker expired in 1990.) It sure doesn't feel like it's been that long."
The essence of growing older.
Hansa. Even the name sounds like a sort of demon that Beelzebub has to keep on a short leash.
That little wagon.
The Mini-Hearse.
Hansa meet Hayabusa.
I do need a mini hearse to park next to my mini Suburban.
Borgward. Just because I'm not feeling the love for the French today.
Hansa - never seen one of those before. Interesting styling. Shame he didn't include engine photos.
The boxes of Peugeot parts don't even show the required water damage for this type of project.
Germany beats France, again.
Had to go with the wagon. There's a chance the guy at Pep Boys has heard of Peugeot. Hansa? Not a chanca in He... well, there you go.
Well, the Hansa is "purported to run," so I'm going to assume everything is fine.
Also, how can you NOT buy from a seller that uses emoticons in their ad?
Borgward FTW.
@FreeMan:Only if you can find the mysterious 4th Pep Boy.. Hanz.
Any chance the Hansa has the mythical Saxomat transmission?
[en.wikipedia.org]
I love the Peugot, but the PCH reference is just too much to resist.
Borgward. It's older, weirder, wagon-er.
Just the name alone is worth it--it's almost a direction. Forward, Backward, Upward, Downward, Borgward...
I was going to vote for the Borgward, but the revelation that they were built in Mexico, potentially making parts-sourcing a bit easier (for you 'murricans anyway) steered me away.
Besides, I love Peugeot 304s, so I was happy to vote for it. It's a pity about the ugly sealed-beam headlights though.
Borgward Hansa sounds like a better name for mid-grade steak knives than a car. I'm glad we didn't include the third option though, the Fiat You're Fired.
I'd take the Hansa. Since it's in Los Angeles, wait until the next rainfall (I know, it might be a while), and then head down to the nearest wrecker and grab the engine from the first wrecked Porsche I could find (I'm going under the assumption that the typical LA Porsche driver has no idea how to handle their car, or incliment weather).
How can you go wrong with a seller who acknowledges that their vehicle will carry you to PCH?
Hansa FTW.
Boy did I want to go with the strange name. But pew got's owner seems like he almost cared at one time.
Gotta go with car that was loved at one time
Can it be a German car is actually beating a French one in a PCH vote? Major upset!
The Borgward just seems so much more... difficult. Hellish, perhaps. The German gets today's "jawohl."
So I just wiki'd the Borgward Hansa and stumbled across this, the Hansa 2400:
...and I was stunned by the resemblance to the '56 Hudson Hornet.
Right down to the Hudson triangle motif. Maybe it's time for a "separated at birth" series?
I NEVER EVER thought I'd be able to vote against a Peugeot EVER! But find parts for a 1961 Hansa hearse, go ahead, find ONE 1961 Hansa part.
Had to be the Borgward.
Hecho en Mexico, you say? My coworker's response to that when I asked Que esta un carro de Borgward? ... Es un carro, o una enfermadad?
Indeed.
Hansa was the name of Seattle's baby Elephant the recently died very unexpectedly. I mention that because the Borgward would be a project of elephantinly hellish proportions.
That said, I'm sure an Rx-8 engine could be mad eto fit back there. Couldn't be too hard could it?
POS meetPOS
Borgward Hansa.
-Nobody's ever heard of it.
-It looks excellent.
-It's not, and never was, a silly French econobox.
-It's RWD.
-It's a wagon.
I'd put in a motorcycle engine and CVT belt-drive transmission for cruising around.
Nobody wants a Peugeot. Except for that bitchin' truck posted on Jalop last week.
I bet everyone would pick the Hansa because it's a wagon and it's cooler.
So I picked the Peugeot. Rooting for the underdog.
And the owner says it's rare.
@staircar: THAT is a Hudson. Wiki must have messed up. Try again. It looks vaguely similar, but not that similar.
@Murilee: The 304 was sold in the US. There used to be a fair number in LA back in the day. Cute car.
Normally the Peugeot would have it but how can you fight a Borgward *wagon* fer crissakes? It's got a lot of what I like about a Volvo Amazon, combined with the utter weirdness of being a Borgward.
I'm all for saving the original drivetrain. In a box.
That puppy needs a WRX underneath it, stat!
Okay, I'd never heard of Borgward Hansa before today, let alone a 1100 Wagon.
I've seen a Peugeot in person, I've heard of 304s.
Borgward wins.
Lots of good reasons stated here to pick the Borgward, so it gets my vote. My reason? It's the wonderfully German non-sonorous way the word "Borgward" rolls off the tongue - it's up there with Wartburg, Gutbrod, Hanomag, Durkopp, Brutsch, and Messerschmidt.
Those Mexican Borgwards? Buried under concrete.
I almost voted for the Peugeot because the box-o-parts almost sealed the deal. The Hansa wins by default because A. It's a wagon. B. What's a Hansa? C. Black. D. PCH shoutout!
Gotta vote for the one I've never heard of. I've heard of a lot, but not that Hansa. Awesome.
I always wanted to drop a porsche motor in a Borgward - and a WAGON??! Peugeots can always be fixed (as long as ya got the special friggin tools)...but a BORGWARD???!
Gotta have it!
I feel almost vindicated. I mean, I love old French cars- the weirdness on a regular basis, the cost of some parts approaching Libya's GNP, the coolness factor of DeGaulle surviving an assaination attempt by way of hydropneumatics, all of it. But the Hansa was just too damn offbeat to ignore. By the way- yes, I have seen these. You don't have a career in cars without experiencing some of the more, um, esoteric choices a driver had back in the day. I mean, when was the last time you saw a Skoda Estelle convertible- ever?
I'll admit that a 1961 Borgward Hansa has definite PCH appeal: RWD, Wagon, when you tell people what it is they'll think you're just making up words. But the Peugeot is exactly the kind of car that screams endless project. It's only $100 so you easily get your foot in hell's door. Before long you'll be saying things like
"Well, it's a Peugeot, this part won't be that hard to find"
or
"It'll all be worth it when I'm done"
and finally
"HAVE PEUGOT FOR SALE, TOO MANY PROJECTS MUST GO HAD 10 YEARS LOT PARTS IN TRUNK RESTORED SELL FOR $$$$$$$$$ CALL MAKE OFFER"
Both of these cars are just plain eurostupid, but the wagon would make a pretty sick little gasser with a straight front axle and a tubbed rear end. Fabricate a tube frame, use a blown small block Chevy. In the long run, it'd be easier than tracking down parts made of unobtanium. Oh, that's right, that's taking the easy way out. How un PCH of me.
Are we sure that Borgward isn't being sold by a Jalopnik commenter? Where else would the PCH reference come from?
I can't resist a two-door wagon, so it's Hansa ftw.
That Hansa's so hot right now
My dad once had a Goliath 1100, same car different year.
Said it was one of the first functional front wheel drive cars after the Cord. However, it was prone to excessive wear and was literally impossible to buy parts for. I hope you're good a fabrication, cuz the Hansa's gonna need it.
The only Borgward that I can remember in Australia was the Borgward Isabella coupe of about 1960/1961, a fairly nice looking 2-door with nascent fins and lots of chrome.
No idea of the price, market, or anything. Just remember the strange name as a kid from the mid-70's.
@thunder: I too am suspicious of the PCH reference. After all, if the Devil announces himself as the Devil, --well, where's the hell in that? You know you're doomed.
I can just hear that little wagon chanting in my head,
"I am the Borgward. You will assimilated. Resistance is futile."
Peugot should automatically be disqualified from PCH with the inclusion of a part's manual.
We don't need no stinkin' manuals!!
The Borgward because it is actually tempting me down the road to project car hell. The 304? Yeah, it's French, but, "Meh".
WOW. My folks had a Borgward- they are mega-rare. They loved theirs. It followed their MG TC and preceded their Sunbeam Rapier, Volvo 122s & Datsun 510, if I have the order correctly.
I think my mom viewed the Borgward as a cut-rate MB. Seems odd... but what a hottie of a car.