Automotive design for Alexis Kellner AG Berlin

£1,500 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

Finished in dark green with contrasting grey roof and matching solid disc wheels, presented against a silhouetted rural landscape with windmill, this imposing 4-door cabriolet was powered by Cadillac's famous V8 engine. Founded in 1902 from the remnants of Henry Ford's first manufacturing venture, the company was rebranded as Cadillac after the founder of the city of Detroit at the beginning of the 18th century, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. The firm was acquired by General Motors as early as 1909, to be their flagship brand, as by which time it had already made its mark as a maker of luxurious and technically innovative cars. The V8 engine was first introduced in 1915. The longer chassis of the 341-A of 1928 allowed for a sleeker, lower-slung, body that suited such a sporty design treatment by such creative coachbuilders as Kellner. Founded by Alexis Kellner (1880-1953) in 1910, in Berlin, the eponymous Alexis Kellner AG coachbuilding company's stylish automobile bodywork designs were immediately successful. This was demonstrated by the number of orders he received at the International Motor Show, in Berlin, in 1911. Kellner was noted for his inventiveness of small details, such as a concealed handle behind the driver's seat for quickly and easily raising and lowering the car's roof, concealed bonnet hinges, for aesthetic as well as aerodynamic reasons, and a suitcase mounted on the running board. The company's success reached its zenith in the 1920s, when it was famed for t

• Binding: Hardcover

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