Lord K's Garage #120: Hanomag Kommissbrot

Another compact car today. This time from Hannover, Germany.

It was built by Hanomag company, established in 1835 by Georg Eggestorff as Eisen-Giesserei und Maschinenfabrik. The company supplied small steam locomotives to German railroads, and since 1905 began to built road locomotives and steam waggons for the Imperial Army.

When the steam locomotive market declined, the company began looking for an alternative product. They turned to a small car, affordable for the middle class. It was the most economic car of the Interbellum, its fuel consumption only 4 litre per 100 km. It was also the only mass-production car of its time powered by a single-cylinder 4-stroke engine (10 hp, 500cc), mounted at the rear.

The car was bearing the official designation "2/10 PS" (2 for "tax power" 10 for actual output), but its odd looks earned it the nickname “Kommissbrot", after a flat-sided bread loaves used by the military.

Two structural details were responsible for the unusual appearance:

to make the seat as wide as possible for two people, the running boards were eliminated;
by mounting the engine in the rear, it provided ample leg room for the passengers.

The Kommissbrot two-seater was taken out of production after the Dixi DA1 (licence-built Austin Seven) appeared on the German market as it was a four-seater and sold for a price less than that of the Hanomag.