1956 Denzel 1500 International

Austrian-based Wolfgang Denzel was the owner of a garage that started building sports cars in 1949 using Volkswagen parts. He introduced his cars at the Geneva Auto Salon under the name of 'WD.' The name was changed to Denzel in 1957.

The main customer criticism about these Wolfgang Denzel-built cars was their lack of power. In response, Denzel switched to Porsche engines. One of his Porsche-powered cars driven by Denzel won the Rally of Alps in 1954. This victory earned Denzel much attention, praise, and publicity.

Denzel would continue in the sports car business for several years but would later close to focus on his garage business. By the 1980s, Denzel had grown his business to include showrooms and garages in many towns and cities throughout Austria. He would become the importer for BMW, Mitsubishi, Ferrari, and Volvo, along with several other automakers.

by Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2014