1934 Horch 780 B Sportcabriolet (more pics below 👇)
Fritz Fiedler’s engineering leadership culminated in the Type 780, introduced in 1932 during the depths of the Great Depression as Horch positioned itself among Germany’s premier luxury manufacturers.
The design featured a technically advanced 302-cubic-inch (4.9-liter) straight-eight engine with a single overhead camshaft, producing about 100 horsepower at roughly 3,400 rpm and allowing top speeds in the neighborhood of 75 to 78 mph, depending on bodywork.
Production ran from 1932 through 1934, with roughly 300 examples built across all body styles. Renowned coachbuilders including Gläser of Dresden, Erdmann & Rossi, and Bauer supplied elegant touring bodies and cabriolets mounted on the 136-inch wheelbase chassis.
The 780 B variant arrived as the final evolution of the model, featuring a revised chassis with the track widened by approximately 1.2 inches for improved handling stability. Only about 83 cars were built to this specification before production ended, making the B-series notably rarer than standard 780 models.
A four-speed manual transmission sent power to the rear wheels. The chassis used solid axles suspended by semi-elliptic leaf springs front and rear, while vacuum-assisted mechanical drum brakes provided stopping power.
The overhead-camshaft straight-eight reflected Horch’s advanced engineering approach, placing the marque alongside Mercedes-Benz and Maybach at the top of the German luxury hierarchy during the early Auto Union era.
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