Champion

Champion Automobilwerke GmbH was a German producer of small cars, initially manufactured in Paderborn. The cars were produced and sold by a succession of businesses between 1952 and 1958. At the outset the cars were impressively simple and inexpensive, but as they became slightly less simple they also lost much of their price advantage. As larger manufacturers moved centre stage in the German auto-market, the producers of the Champion failed to achieve the volumes necessary to justify the investment needed to develop and produce the cars: the brief story of the marque is one of a succession of financial crises and failures.

After Champion production moved south from Paderborn to the Hennhöfer plant at Ludwigshafen the original Champion business collapsed. The Ludwigshafen Hennhöfer company which was by now assembling the cars on behalf of Champion nevertheless committed to persist in producing the cars. The engine was switched to a 16 PS Heinkel unit, and the model name was changed from 400 to 400 H. Roughly a further 1,940 of the cars were built in Ludwigshafen on this basis before Hennhöfer, in its turn, collapsed in 1953.

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Champion Automobilwerke GmbH was a German producer of small cars, initially manufactured in Paderborn. The cars were produced and sold by a succession of businesses between 1952 and 1958. At the outset the cars were impressively simple and inexpensive, but as they became slightly less simple they also lost much of their price advantage. As larger manufacturers moved centre stage in the German auto-market, the producers of the Champion failed to achieve the volumes necessary to justify the investment needed to develop and produce the cars: the brief story of the marque is one of a succession of financial crises and failures.

After Champion production moved south from Paderborn to the Hennhöfer plant at Ludwigshafen the original Champion business collapsed. The Ludwigshafen Hennhöfer company which was by now assembling the cars on behalf of Champion nevertheless committed to persist in producing the cars. The engine was switched to a 16 PS Heinkel unit, and the model name was changed from 400 to 400 H. Roughly a further 1,940 of the cars were built in Ludwigshafen on this basis before Hennhöfer, in its turn, collapsed in 1953.

Maico was also based in the south-west of Germany, at Ammerbruch-Pfäffingen near Tübingen: their purchase of the Champion assets was triggered by the low "liquidation" price at which they were available following the collapse of earlier producers of the car.

Subject ID: 1019

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