1961 | Borgward B 611

Model year: 2024
Number of keys: 3
Reference number: M0296

Specific information:
The Borgward is originally from Sweden. After the import it has been in the "De Rijke" museum for a long time. Special pick-up, original, not restored, but has been repainted.

The Borgward B 611 is a light commercial vehicle built by Borgward at their Bremen factory between 1957 and 1961. The nominal load capacity at launch was 1.5 (metric) tons. The vehicle was offered as a light van, a minibus (with seats in the back and more windows) or as a platform truck (Pritschenwagen), though various other body variants were available either directly from the manufacturer or from appropriately specialist vehicle body manufacturers.
The van was launched in 1957 with the name Borgward B 1500 F. The "F" suffix stood for "Frontlenker-Transporter", and referred a design feature that was a first for Borgward,[4] whereby the driver was positioned right at the front of the vehicle rather than behind a bonnet/hood with an engine underneath it. The engine was installed in a large pod between the driver and his passenger. Where three seats were used in the driver's area the central passenger sat on top of the engine pod. According to most sources it was only in 1959 that the vehicle received the name by which it is more commonly remembered today, Borgward B 611.The front wheels were set back from the front of the car, and set between and above them, installed between the driver and his passenger, was a four cylinder four stoke water-cooled engine. B 611 buyers could choose between a petrol/gasoline fueled 1493 cc power unit delivering up to 60 hp (45 kW) and a diesel fueled 1758 cc unit with a maximum power output of just 42 hp (31 kW), but combining this with vastly superior fuel economy.[5] The petrol/gasoline unit was shared with the Borgward Isabella that had been introduced a couple of years earlier. The gear ratios were not, however. The B 611 was delivered with a four-speed all-synchromesh manual gear change, controlled with a column mounted lever.[5] Claimed top speed was 92 km/h (58 mph) for a petrol/gasoline powered van and a more leisurely 75 km/h (47 mph) for buyers selecting the diesel motor.[6]
The B 611 sat on a ladder-frame steel chassis with transverse reinforcement bars. At the front independent suspension used laterally mounted wishbones with coil springs. At the back a rigid "swing" axle was suspended with longitudinally mounted leaf springs. The engine, clutch, transmission, radiator and front suspension were all supported by an additional subframe. With a wide comfortable cabin offering space for three people and using uncomplicated technology the Borgward 611 won friends in the press and in the market place. By the time of Borgward's controversial bankruptcy in 1961 the manufacturer had produced 14,748 of them.