HORCH 710 Spezial Roadster Reinbolt & Christe - 1934 Serial number: 74012 Engine: In-line longitudinal 8 cylinder unit #71209 Bore x stroke: 82 x 95 mm Capacity: 4 014 cc Timing gear: single overhead camshaft Intake: 1 twin-choke Solex 32 JFFP carburettor Compression ratio: 5, 2 : 1 Maximum power: 80 bhp @ 3 400 rpm Transmission: manual 4-speed + R ZF gearbox Frame: steel side and cross-members Wheelbase: 3 450 mm Front track: 1 434 mm Rear track: 1 477 mm Body: aluminium roadster Brakes: four copper-plated drums Wheels: 18" chrome-plated wire wheels Tyres: 18" whitewall tyres Dry weight: 2 000 kg Performance: 75 mph max speed Production: from June 1932 to January 1934 Production: 136 Horch 710s (all body variants) Karl Benz built in 1885 what is thought to be the first modern motor vehicle in the world and was eventually dismissed out of his own firm in 1898. Like Benz, August Horch who had once worked for Benz and Co produced himself only the very first models of the automobiles which bore his name during 35 years. The company A. Horch and Co was incorporated at Cologne-Ehrenfeld the 14th of November 1899. From1904 onwards the Horch cars acquired an enviable reputation for their reliability. In 1907 August Horch experimented a superb six-cylinder in-line engine which reached the production stage only in 1910 by which time Horch had also left his company. Following some arguments with the management, he had resigned to start a new company bearing also his name. So two firms built Horch cars a situation which was hardly acceptable. The first Horch company sued the second one and won the case. In1910 Horch had to give up his name for his new business. The son of one of his partners suggested to use the Latin transcription of the German word "horch" meaning "hear" : so Audi was choosen and the new company was named Audi Automobilwerke G.m.b.H. Meanwhile the Horch cars were still manufactured without their founder. After WWI the production models were fitted with a 2 630 cc 4-cylinder engine. In 1925 Paul Daimler joined the Horch company as the chief-designer.The first 8-cylinder Horch was introduced in 1926 to be produced from 1927 onwards : it was the 305 model fitted with the 13/65 engine (tax-rated at 13 HP and delivering 65 bhp). At that time the top-market cars were produced by Mercedes and Maybach. During the years 1930 and 1931, new Horch cars appeared on the market. The first was the 450 model with an 8-cylinder 90 bhp engine mated to a 4-speed transmission of which three were synchronized, a true breakthrough at the time. The second novelty was a luxury and very expensive automobile fitted with the first V12 engine ever made by Horch delivering 120 ch at 3 200 rpm, this 600 or 670 model being produced only during 30 months. The 8-cylinder Horch was developped and its capacity increased gradually. From 1931 the engines were of the SOHC type and capacities were as follows: 3 Litre type 430, 4 Litre types 410, 440 and 710, 4,5 Litre types 420, 470, 720 and 750 and 5 Litre which topped with the 120-bhp Horch 853 in 1937. The car offered here # 74012 was delivered in rolling chassis form in 1933 and bodied in 1934. On this type 710 chassis the small coachbuilding firm Reinbolt & Christe located in Basel (Switzerland) built a striking "Spezial Roadster" a strict 2-seater whose inspiration could be reminiscent of some gaudy creations of Figoni-Falaschi. Reinbolt & Christe were famed for the quality of their horse-drawn carriages and it was not before the 1920s that they took up the automobile coachbuilding. The 1930 crisis was compensated at Reinbolt & Christe by orders coming from GM, Opel, Renault, MG, Talbot, Jaguar, Triumph, Riley and Horch.