Borgward (1924-1961)
If you wanted a premium German car in the 1950s, Borgward was the place to go, with its stylish saloons, coupés and estates, most notably 1954’s Isabella, pictured. Carl Borgward started making cars under his own name in 1924, but in the pre-war years he also set up or acquired the Hansa, Lloyd and Goliath brands.
This would prove his undoing as he operated the companies separately in the post-war era, which led to a high cost base – so he could never compete with diversified brands such as Opel and VW.
The company closed down in 1961 and Carl Borgward died two years later, but in 2008 his grandson Christian revived the brand with Chinese backing to build SUVs in China.