Horch 780 Sport-Cabriolet: staying power

By Ton Roks

| 5 Dec 2024

Classic & Sports Car – Horch 780 Sport-Cabriolet: staying power

In August 1945, immediately after the fall of the Third Reich, a group of German soldiers tried to drive out of The Netherlands with some very precious loot: a confiscated 1933 Horch 780 Sport-Cabriolet.

This magnificent machine, with a 4.9-litre straight-eight under its long, imposing bonnet, had been bought new by a local merchant.

He had been forced to hand it over to the occupying forces at the dawn of WW2, and when the hostilities ended, the fleeing soldiers thought they could take the car back to their homeland, but they were in for a rude awakening.

The Horch’s four-speed gearbox has a partially reversed H-pattern

At the Nieuweschans crossing in the north of The Netherlands, the troops were stopped by a company of Canadian border police.

The officials immediately called the Dutch authorities to ask if the soldiers were allowed to take the Horch into Germany.

They were put through to Jonkheer Van der Wyck, then magistrate of the Special Court in the city of Groningen, whose response was unequivocal: “Those Germans should just make their way home on foot.”

He then added that the imposing 780 should be brought over to Groningen for use by the court.

Twin Solex carburettors feed the Horch’s 4911cc overhead-cam straight-eight engine

Had the Canadian border police not been quite so alert, the Sport-Cabriolet might have disappeared from the country for ever.

Once it had been handed in, the Horch was confiscated for a second time, this time by the military authority of the province, in effect making it the property of the Kingdom of The Netherlands.

The Horch would have been no small trophy of war for the German military.

It had been an extremely expensive car, right at the very top of the 1930s luxury market.

The winged crest tops the Horch 780 Sport-Cabriolet’s radiator

The Dutch importer, Auto-Palace in The Hague, listed this 780 at 12,600 guilders when it was bought new in 1933 by its Dutch textile-dealer first owner, who regularly drove it to Germany for business.

In Groningen, the Horch was entrusted to the very magistrate who had ordered its confiscation, Adriaan Hendrik Sibbe van der Wyck.

He was given the nod from a higher authority, effective 24 August 1945, to use the Horch for business purposes and, more importantly, to purchase petrol for it.

Fuel was scarce and special permission – visibly taped to the windscreen – was required to fill up.

The 100bhp Horch 780 Sport-Cabriolet is well able to keep up with modern traffic

When Van der Wyck was not on the road with the majestic Sport-Cabriolet, it was stored at Garage Caspers, housed in an old church on the Coehoornsingel in Groningen.

At that time the Horch still bore the provincial numberplate A9799, but during the 1950s this was replaced by the modern registration VK-16-79.

Van der Wyck was also allowed to use the Sport-Cabriolet on Sundays and holidays, but his special permission still didn’t extend to driving to a theatre, restaurant, concert hall, cinema or café.

Branded pedals in this Horch’s footwell

Nevertheless, the magistrate appears to have become very attached to the Horch, because after three years he acquired the car from the Kingdom of The Netherlands for 3000 guilders – the equivalent of around £34,000 today – thus becoming only the car’s second private owner.

He used the Sport-Cabriolet sparingly, for trips to court and for family holidays, and took good care of it.

Thanks in part to Van der Wyck’s tutelage, the 780 still has the original leather upholstery with which it was delivered more than nine decades ago.

The Horch 780 Sport-Cabriolet has no power steering, so be prepared for a workout

One of the last Van der Wyck family outings for which the Horch was used was the wedding of Adriaan’s daughter, Reina, in September 1973.

That November, Van der Wyck senior passed away and the car was entrusted to the Vrieswijk garage and cab company in Haren, which maintained it and used it occasionally for weddings.

There was another enthusiast based in The Netherlands who harboured a passion for Horch, however.

Hugo Modderman, a well-known collector and concours judge, came across the marque by accident.

This Horch’s passionate owner, Hugo Modderman

“I had a four-cylinder Lancia,” he explains, “but I really wanted an eight-cylinder car. I heard about a Horch 853 in storage in a barn, bought it and was very happy with it.

“I immersed myself in the marque to the point where I became known in Horch circles as something of a connoisseur.

“In 1993, I was approached and asked if I would help someone sell a car.

“It turned out to be a 780 Sport-Cabriolet with a three-piece windscreen – in my opinion the very finest of the marque’s models.

“It had been owned by the Van der Wyck family since 1948 and was being offered by Adriaan’s widow, so I snapped it up.”

Rare parts, like the tail-light glasses, had to be remade

In the 31 years Hugo has owned the Horch, he has overseen a thorough, 25-year restoration with a series of specialists.

As well as finding the right craftspeople for each area of the car, long searches were necessary for rare parts – which in many cases had to be remade.

There were some remarkable finds, too: “I needed an extra piece of glass for one of the headlights, but none could be found.

“Then one day, the widow called to say that, while clearing out the linen closet at home, she had found a headlamp glass, with a coat of arms and the name ‘Horch’ in the middle.”

The Horch 780 Sport-Cabriolet’s long bonnet and big headlights give it an imposing face

“Her late husband had apparently bought it as a spare,” continues Hugo.

“We also needed new windscreen wipers, which seemed another hopeless prospect.

“After years of searching we discovered a new set, still in their original packaging from 1933. It was unbelievable.”

There was plenty more to track down, such as new tail-lights.

Chassis 78157 is one of just 16 surviving Horch 780s

Eventually someone was found who could reproduce the glass, but more of a challenge were the interior parts that were originally fashioned from ivory.

The finish had deteriorated over the years, but clever restorers remade all the parts from old billiard balls.

“We also needed new lever-arm dampers,” recalls Hugo, “and it appeared that we would have no choice but to have them replicated in Germany, for a lot of money, because we wanted everything on the car to be as original as possible.

“But then our contact in Poland remembered that exactly the same dampers were used for some vehicles in the local military, and he was allowed to pick up a new set straight from the rack in an army depot.”

The Horch 780 Sport-Cabriolet’s switchgear was remade from billiard balls

Now that it is complete and restored, Hugo is understandably very pleased with his Horch 780 Sport-Cabriolet.

“It is 400kg lighter than my previous 853 and you sit lower in it,” he says. “It is a much nicer car to drive.”

This is clear from the pace he sets on the trip from Lomm, near the German border in Limburg, to the Posbank national park for our photoshoot.

At no point during the 90km drive does the Horch prove to be an obstacle to other traffic.

The Horch 780 Sport-Cabriolet’s rear-hinged doors add more theatre

There are now some 30,000km on the 780’s odometer, of which Hugo has accounted for around 5000.

He has driven the car from Limburg to Zurich and back via Monaco, and in 2022 he toured 1000 miles across the western states of the USA, from Seattle via Oregon and south to Monterey, California.

Arriving at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance at the end of its journey, the Horch was awarded first prize in that year’s Class J-2, for ‘European Classic Late Open’.

Crossing the stage at Pebble Beach in 2022 after the Horch 780’s class win, during an epic American road trip

It is a striking automobile, whose yellow-and-black livery makes a brighter impression than the mostly black German prestige cars of the time.

You may recognise the model from the 1962 film The Longest Day, in which a dark-coloured example served as Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s staff car.

Like Hugo’s, it is certainly impressive, if a little more sinister.

The huge headlights, formidable chrome radiator and gigantic wings are typical of the upper echelon of motoring at the time, as is the unashamedly long bonnet.

‘The huge headlights, formidable radiator and gigantic wings are typical of the upper echelon of motoring’

Inside lives the 4911cc straight-eight, a beauty in its own right with the name Horch stamped on the cylinder head in bold capital letters.

The radiator bears the letter ‘H’ in a contrasting gold and its cap is adorned with a winged mascot.

On one side sit the intake and exhaust manifolds – with a valve that switches between summer and winter operating modes.

On the other, the firing order of the eight spark plugs is detailed on a panel attached to the head.

The majestic Horch 780 Sport-Cabriolet has an 11ft 4in wheelbase and weighs a hefty 4530lb

Below that are the dynamo and water pump, which share a common shaft and, along with the fan, are belt-driven from the crank.

The overhead camshaft is operated via a königswelle, an upright drive connected to the crankshaft by an angled gearset.

This fine construction brings to mind imagery from the book Horch by Peter Kirchberg and Jürgen Pönisch, showing three eight-cylinder engines on test stands with the mechanics listening to the kingshaft using a special kind of hearing aid.

It’s clear these units were built with exceptional care.

Five small doors on either side of the Horch’s bonnet can be opened to provide additional cooling

Horch began developing this engine in 1920, a decade after founder Gustav Horch left his eponymous firm.

Following two paths, the company intended to produce V8s as well as in-line units.

The former were intended for smaller models, being no longer than a four-cylinder.

The straight-eight layout, meanwhile, bestowed enormous prestige, being well established as the engine to have for the well-heeled motorist.

Quality and durability were key for Horch’s designers and engineers, whose hard work is clear to see in the 780 Sport-Cabriolet

Not wanting to take any chances with the quality and durability of its offering, Horch developed its machining operations with metallurgy giant Krupp in Essen to greatly improve the hardness of the materials and thus boost wear resistance.

The resulting engine, with its overhead camshaft and, later, 10-bearing crankshaft, was offered in capacities of up to 5 litres by way of lengthening the stroke.

So equipped, Hugo’s Horch 780 Sport-Cabriolet boasts a useful 100bhp and, while torque was not quoted at the time, the 104mm stroke and 87mm bore would have guaranteed a strong hauling ability.

In truth, the non-synchronised first gear is hardly needed, even when pulling away from a standstill, unless you’re starting on an incline.

Small lamps illuminate the Horch 780 Sport-Cabriolet’s numberplate

It’s laid out in an H-pattern, with first and second where you’d expect them but third and fourth switched around, with direct third in the lower-right slot and the overdrive top ratio above it.

All but first are, according to period Horch proclamations, ‘silent gears’.

There is more than enough pace in this car, Hugo confirms, that on the open road he can easily maintain a 70-80mph cruising speed.

In its brochures, Dutch importer Auto-Palace compared the Horch with the famous Flying Scotsman London-to-Edinburgh express train – not only in terms of speed, but also comfort.

The Horch 780 Sport-Cabriolet will cruise happily at 70-80mph

With a 3.45m-long wheelbase, the Sport-Cabriolet’s seating is generous and the thick black fabric roof looks as if it would weather any storm.

There was also a four-door version of the 780 or, if that wasn’t opulent enough, Horch could offer you its vast Pullman range.

The interior is lavish, with leather, wood, plush carpet and ivory, and finely detailed instruments.

The speedometer reads to just over 150kph (94mph), and is joined by gauges for water temperature, oil pressure, fuel level and the passing of time.

It took 25 years to restore this Horch 780 Sport-Cabriolet

The clock still ticks as the hands move around the face, not something you always see in cars of this age.

“I made sure that the clock works perfectly,” smiles Hugo.

“At a concours d’élégance, you will be marked down if it doesn’t. As a regular judge myself, I have to set a good example!”

There is no rev counter; it wasn’t considered necessary by Horch – after all, the straight-eight is not a highly strung sprinter but a calm powerhouse.

The Horch 780 Sport-Cabriolet’s dials sit in a central binnacle

Notable details inside include the porcelain ashtray near the driver’s left knee and the electric lighter on the far right of the dashboard.

You don’t have to remove it to light your Cohiba Esplendidos: it’s enough to gently press the cigar against it and push a button.

The windscreen can be opened at the bottom for ventilation, while the rear-view mirror is attached to an adjustable arm with a neat extension allowing the driver to see over the hump of the convertible top when folded.

There is no power steering and, although the brakes are vacuum-assisted, this luxury car of more than two tonnes demands strong arms and powerful thigh muscles to drive.

‘The Horch’s rear-view mirror is attached to an adjustable arm with a neat extension allowing the driver to see over the hump of the convertible top when folded’

The Horch was a jewel in the crown of its nation’s automobile industry, comparable in many ways to the great Mercedes-Benz models of the period.

The German writer and Nobel laureate Paul Thomas Mann was an advocate.

“I drive a Horch 8, because it is both elegant and efficient at the same time,” he wrote, underlining the blend of beauty and speed in his favoured cars from Zwickau.

The lofty comparisons continue, because the 780 Sport-Cabriolet was styled by Hermann Ahrends, who would later be responsible for the legendary Mercedes-Benz 540K Spezial Roadster.

The Horch’s removable rear trunk houses a trio of fitted leather suitcases

The Horch’s bodywork was made in part by Dietzsch in Glauchau, Saxony, and the straight-eight was designed by Fritz Fiedler under the supervision of Paul Daimler, eldest son of Gottlieb Daimler.

In short, the 780 Sport-Cabriolet is a vehicle with a first-class CV.

Horch is said to have built 250 examples of the 780, of which 16 cars are known to remain.

If it weren’t for the attentive Canadian border police and Hugo’s contribution to the survival of chassis 78157, perhaps that list of survivors would be one fewer.

Images: Luuk van Kaathoven

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