1950 Veritas SP-90

Ernst Loof, Georg Meier, and Lorenz Dietrich founded the West German Company named Veritas. All three of these individuals brought a wealth of experience. Meier had won the 1939 motorcycle Tourist trophy and Loof was also a motorcycle champion. Loof's resume included a management position in BMW's sports department and Dietrich had also worked for the BMW Company.

After World War II came to a close, these three individuals began modifying and building vehicles based on BMW components. Since the Allied Forces occupying Germany restricted engine manufacturing to a maximum of one liter, customers would bring their own drivetrain, which would be installed at the factory in Hausern.

In 1949, the Veritas Company introduced a road-going Komet coupe which was little more than a racing Veritas RS made street-legal. This was soon followed by a coupe, cabriolet, and sports roadster body styles. The bodywork was performed by Hermann Spohn Karosseriebau of Ravensburg, known for their work on the Maybach chassis. The engines were from BRMW in either stock or modified 326 units or powerplants from the 328.

Since BMW did not allow the use of their name on cars not of their manufacture, the vehicles were rebadged as Veritas.

This 1950 BMW-Veritas was the work of Hartung Spohn using design inspiration from Harley Earl's Le Sabre concept car. It is an all-original example that is believed to have been returned to Spohn for extensive modifications which included the installation of fender skirts, tailfins, and upper grille assembly in the nose. Currently, the car is in its original 'barn find' condition.

It was offered for sale at the Lee Roy Hartung Collection auction in 2011 presented by Auctions America. As bidding came to a close, the car had been sold for the sum of $195,500 including the buyer's premium.

by Daniel Vaughan | Dec 2011