Hiltergerke (Germany) - AllCarIndex

Hiltergerke was a small German automotive project from the 1960s led by Bernd Hiltergerke, who designed car bodies during his student years. He first created sketches, followed by 1:1 wooden and plaster prototypes that were used to make molds for fiberglass bodywork. By 1967 the first hand-built cars were completed.

The initial model was a convertible, followed by a coupé with a distinctive hood bulge and fastback tail. Both were mounted on unshortened Volkswagen platforms, first the VW 1500 and later the VW 1600. The coupé used the running gear of the VW Type 3, including its relatively flat four-cylinder engine, which allowed a sloping rear design. Bodywork consisted largely of a central fiberglass shell with bespoke front and rear hoods and doors, while windscreens came from the Glas GT and taillights from the BMW 1600. Around 20 coupés were produced, priced between 15,000 and 20,000 DM depending on equipment.

At least one body was later reused for the Barracuda SS, a Volkswagen-based special that employed a Hiltergerke shell. Surviving cars remain extremely rare, though some examples were known to have survived in Germany into the 2000s.