The future looked bright

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Now that we’re in the middle of autumn, you may appreciate some added brightness. This photograph ticks just that box, with a lovely trio of Messerschmitts in bright hues. No information comes with it other than that the picture was taken in Germany in the 1950s. The other cars in the street fit that bill. Is that a DKW cabriolet parked on the other side of the street? The Jeep speeding along may very well be a war surplus?

And how about the actual subject of this shot? Had this colourful threesome just been delivered to a dealership? Or could this be outside the Regensburg factory, where they were made? Messerschmitt had, of course, been infamous for its warplanes, but the company was not allowed to manufacture aircraft after the Second World War ended so switched to the production of a small car: the Messerschmitt KR175 Kabinenroller, launched in February 1953. In terms of profits, it certainly wasn’t a success and the manufacturer supposedly lost money on each vehicle made. By 1954, the company was in dire straits with the Kabinenroller supposedly adding an extra 150,000 to 200,000 Marks to its vast debt each month.

It was no surprise, then, that Messerschmitt, once allowed to produce aeroplanes again in 1956, rapidly reverted. Little did they know that the Kabinenroller's future was as bright as these three cars; the much-improved KR200 replaced the KR175 in 1955, and sold over 30,000 units after Messerschmitt had sold its Regensburg factory to the Kabinenroller's designer Fritz Fend and his company FMR!

(Words Jeroen Booij, picture archive)

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