SEVENTY YEARS IN THE MAKING

Built on Porsche 356 running gear, this Sportkabriolett is the car Dannenhauer & Stauss had always dreamed of creating

- CHARLIE CALDERWOOD

You can't keep sports cars down for long. From the ruins of war, various coachbuilders in Germany and Austria were building roadsters and coupés on the running gear of the relaunched Volkswagen by 1950. Porsche had hired Reutter of Stuttgart to build bodies for the 356, having taken two years to create the first 50 by itself in Gmünd, Austria. Making such cars at a lesser rate - although not drastically so - was Dannenhauer & Stauss.

Having worked on the bodies of the KdFWagen prototypes with Reutter before the war, Gottfried Dannenhauer knew how to take apart a Beetle better than most. With the new Federal Republic of Germany founded in May 1949, Dannenhauer could see a return to normality and, with that, demand for a drop-top sports car based on the ubiquitous and well-supported Volkswagen. Son-in-law Kurt Stauss, also an accomplished panel beater and mechanic, joined the venture, and the pair set up shop in Stuttgart.

The two metalworkers were wise enough not to attempt designing the car themselves, so they enlisted the help of two students of Wunibald Kamm (of 'Kamm tail' fame) to style the body. The pair, Herren Oswald and Wagner, had already been working on a prototype, and this provided the basis of the D&S. Dannenhauer and Stauss made a few adjustments, though, chiefly the removal of a luggage compartment with a locking lid sited between the engine and the passenger compartment. Their car would have a basic bench that could double as cargo space or emergency rear seats instead, with the first Sportkabriolett built by Christmas 1950.