Max Hoffman had an eye for cars, and he knew what would sell to Americans. Born in Vienna, he founded his car showroom in New York City in 1947, beginning with the display of a single car. Of course, because of his eye for form, the car was a Delahaye coupe with body by Figoni and Falaschi. He soon took on the distributorship for Volkswagen (1950-53) and Jaguar, inviting Frank Lloyd Wright to design a New York Showroom for the latter, then moving Mercedes-Benz and Porsche into the space. He'd imported 3 Porsches in 1950, and by the time he persuaded Porsche to build the Speedster as their stripped-down, entry level car in 1954, he was selling 11 Porsches a week, 30 percent of their total production…
That Speedster wasn't the first time he'd suggested a new model. He'd also persuaded Mercedes to make a road-going version of its 300SL racers from 1952, and the iconic Gullwing became the first Mercedes to sell more units outside the German market than in, with 80 percent coming to America after appearing in 1954. Hoffman's salesmanship was as good as his eye for form, and after commissioning the showroom design from Wright, he convinced the octogenarian architect that a red 300SL would make a great daily driver…
He also persuaded BMW to produce the model 507 designed by Albrecht Goertz, but not in large enough numbers so that they could avoid losing money on each car. Still, Hoffman was right in the long run; the 507, like the 300SL, is now highly prized by collectors.
Hoffman also urged Lancia to make a version of their Aurelia for the American market, and they only turned out about 240 of the Pinin Farina-styled America Spider. Like the 300SL and the 507, it now sells at auction for seven figures.
Hoffman had better luck getting Alfa Romeo to tool up for large scale production of the Giulietta, especially the Pinin Farina Spider, and it put the make on the map in the USA...
One American car maker commissioned a prototype as the result of a Hoffman suggestion. In 1952, Hoffman had introduced Ferry Porsche to his friends at Studebaker, and suggested that there might be some engineering consulting to do. Studebaker, which had purchased a Lancia Aurelia for studies, liked the V6 engine, and asked for a front-engined V6. What they got instead was a unit-bodied, rear-engined prototype and two prototype 3.5 liter V6 engines with 120 degrees between cylinder banks; one engine was air-cooled and one was water-cooled. By the time the prototype car and engines were delivered near the end of 1954, Studebaker had merged with Packard and there was no budget to develop the new compact car. The test car was pronounced solid and well-engineered by Studebaker's engineers, but it seems clear that Loewy Studios, the team responsible for the the beautiful (and expensive to build) 1953 Starliners, had not been consulted on the body design. Nor had Max Hoffman. One Packard engineer named John DeLorean tested Studebaker's Porsche Type 542 and pronounced it responsive, but unsuited to American tastes because of its tendency to oversteer. He'd soon move on to GM, where he would eventually have a chance to experience the somewhat similar Corvair. Max Hoffman would go on to concentrate on BMW as his sole distributorship after 1965, prodding the Bavarian factory to mass-produce the 2002 and the Bavaria sedan, both examples of the bigger engine in smaller package approach. In the ten years he spent exclusively on BMW, Max Hoffman would do much to transform the brand (for better or worse) from an obscure cult car into a familiar lifestyle accessory.
Photo Credits:
Hoffman Wright Showroom: core77.com
Wright with 300SL and 300 sedan: steinerag.com
BMW 507: Wikimedia
Lancia B24: aureliaspider.com
Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider: Wikimedia
Porsche Studebaker Type 542: forums.pelicanparts.com
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