‘These Austrian sports cars are little covered. When they are, the misconception of them as Beetle-based Specials is often repeated’
THE AMAZING DENZEL SPORTS CAR
Few enthusiasts have ever seen a Denzel, but I vividly recall the much-missed Mike McCarthy returning to the C&SC office after finally driving one of his dream cars and enthusing about its brilliance. Other than a few magazine features and a short paragraph in Georgano’s automotive encyclopaedia, these Austrian sports cars are little covered, and when they are, the misconception of them as Beetle-based Specials is often repeated.
That changes with this magnificent publication by James Perrin and Mark Brinker. From historian Karl Ludvigsen’s enthusiastic foreword to the fastidious closing credits, every facet of the Denzel story is covered, masterfully and beautifully.
The book’s genesis came from Perrin, a Porsche 356 enthusiast who has amassed a remarkable collection of Denzel material, which led to the acquisition of two cars. Co-author Brinker has a reputation for liking unusual, unsung classics and has long been fascinated by the Denzel. When they finally met in person, Brinker was blown away by the material Perrin had collected, and he knew a book had to be published.
The first volume covers the cars’ history and construction. Before he started building sports cars, Wolfgang Denzel was a successful motorcycle competitor, riding BMWs in tough trials prior to WW2. In 1948, just 100 miles from Gmünd where Ferry Porsche had begun building the 356, Denzel started producing his own handbuilt sports cars in Vienna. Perrin and Brinker relate the evolution from the early Beetle-based cars to the ultimate spaceframe-chassis machines, with Denzel’s own flat-four engine based on a Volkswagen crankcase. The first volume also presents brochures and adverts, plus a full register of surviving cars. A key part to the book’s appeal is its superb design by Richard Baron, a former art editor of Road & Track.
Volume two focuses on the marque’s history in competition, from Denzel’s own silver medal on the Wintertourenfahrt in 1949 to Wilhelm Theil’s gold medal on the Semperit-Rallye in 1960, with his distinctive two-tone 1300. Sadly, this famous Denzel, chassis DK27, which inspired Guy Allen’s superb cover art for volume one, has vanished.
The wealth of images sourced by the authors is remarkable. Thanks to the superb photography of Artur Fenzlau, the book captures the atmosphere of 1950s Austrian events with Denzels blasting up dusty
