1951 Rometsch Beeskow

History

Friedrich Rometsch founded the German-based metallurgical-coachbuilding company called Karosserie Friedrich Rometsch in 1924. In the 1950s they built the Rometsch Beeskow based on the Volkswagen Beetle platform. Named after its designer, Johannes Beeskow, it was put on display at the Geneva Automotive Show. The first example was purchased by actor Viktor de Kowa.

Prior to World War II, Johannes Beeskow had worked as the general manager of Joseph Neuss in Berlin-Halensee. Erdmann & Rossi took over Neuss in 1933 and Beeskow was retained. After World War II, he moved to Rometsch and later became the technical manager at Karmann.

The Rometsch Beeskow was available as a coupe and convertible, of which 175 examples were built, the majority of which were convertibles. These hand-built vehicles used a steel frame with wood pillars and were clothed in a lightweight aluminum body. They were intended as an affordable sport car alternative to many of the more expensive cars of the day. By using the Volkswagen Beetle chassis, there were hopes of keeping prices low.

By Daniel Vaughan | Mar 2019