Horch 853: flying excellence

Legendary Horch 853 was presented to the public at the Paris Motor Show in 1935. There he was noticed and Hermann Goering, who arrived in the French capital for the Third Reich. The Minister had a weakness for anything beautiful, so luxurious car quickly migrated into his garage. Loved "Horch" accompanied him on private trips instead of the official car of the Third Reich Mercedes-Benz. Predecessor Horch 853 was a two-door Horch 853 Cabriolet Sport, produced from 1927. The original version was a bit crowded - just two side windows and two small rear seats, so after several years of space in the cabin has been increased at the expense of rear seat. In 1932, the model was renamed the Type 780, and in 1935 came the hero of Article - Horch 853, is considered one of the most luxurious cars in the world. He received the Grand Prix at the Paris Motor Show and was voted Car of the Year. In support of this Professor of Design, University of Cologne has created an icon in the form of a winged ball - "Flying perfection." According to the author, the ball - the most perfect figure in geometry. In a month at a factory in Zwickau were produced for only 15-20 "Horch", each owner and his license plate number was recorded in book sales. Typically, these were military men, industrialists or politicians. Among them were Rosenberg, Himmler, German Ambassador to the USSR, Schulenburg, Marshal of Finland Mannerheim. Unfortunately, the archive of the plant was destroyed by fire during the bombing at the end of the war. After the war, Horch production was halted because a plant in Zwickau was in the Soviet zone of occupation and after the partition of the country went to the GDR, and subsequently was nationalized. In 1956 Horch 853 reappeared in production under the name «Sachsenring», but very quickly disappeared. Originally, Horch 853 was equipped with an eight-line 0.5-liter engine with 100 hp. with. and then he was replaced by a six-cylinder V12 with 120 hp. with. Mounted on the engine lubricating system pressure and oil pump with gear drive. The power unit has worked with four transmission, equipped with two carburetors "Solex" downdraft and multi-disc clutch. Wooden body frame was made of beech wood, covered with varnish, and the salon was decorated morocco, and several types of wood. 17-inch tires wore on rims with 84 spokes. Housing was equipped with independent suspension, but it did not give special stability at high speeds. The car was quite heavy, more than 2,5 m, it prevented him quickly dispersed. Maximum speed of the mastodon was 135 km / h. External dimensions "Horch" and did not have to race - at length he reached almost 6 meters in width - 1,8 m. On good maneuverability could only dream of, turning radius ranged from 14 to 16 m. During the war, and in postwar years, the owners of Horch 853 would be many, but to realize his dream was little. Luxury German car was resting in the garage Vasily Stalin, the architect Alexei Shchusev, the pilot of Alexander Pokryshkina. Past so remarkable about the car could not pass and cultural figures, including cinema. Horch played in more than 25 Soviet films - such as "Hello, I'm your aunt," "Velvet Season", "Variant Omega", etc. But in the captions "Seventeen Moments of Spring" this model was not destined to fall . Following the historical facts, the film's director Tatiana Lioznova wanted to put behind the wheel Shtirlitsa "Horch" diplomatic three-digit number signs. But to find the actor was not possible - the war ended 26 years ago, all the cars had left the trophy in all directions, most were in the Baltics. In 1971, when they started to shoot the film in Moscow was the only one Horch, but he was busy - in a film studio "Mosfilm" also filmed a movie about a Soviet intelligence agent. Military advisers tape "Seventeen Moments of Spring" came to the conclusion that such a machine would attract the attention of traffic police to Stirlitz and decided to transplant it to the Mercedes-Benz 230. Found a replacement pretty quickly, in one of Moscow's garage, but before Berlin's machine is not reached. Thus, in the shooting involved a personal car in August Klibenshteyna, lover of vintage cars and a restaurant owner, who went into the film crew. Now one of the survivors Horch 853 can be seen in the museum Lomakovskiy automotive engineering in Moscow, where he occupies a place of honor.