The destruction wrought by the Second World War left Germany's auto industry (all industry actually!) absolutely shattered. In the immediate aftermath of the war, the Allies considered de-industrializing the country in order the neutralize it as a military threat, however, implementing those plans proved practically impossible. Too much needed to be done and so the Allied occupation governments progressively walked back their restrictions on Germany industry and allowed the country to be rebuilt.
The Borgward group of companies - Lloyd, Hansa, Goliath and Borgward - were headquartered in Bremen, which had been bombed into rubble. Additionally, company director Carl Borgward was arrested and imprisoned by the British. After he was released in 1948 he set about returning to automobile manufacture. With its plants still largely in ruins and critical components such as steel and fuel in desperately short supply, the choice was to either build a compromised design and hit the marketplace immediately, or delay until sufficient steel and quality components were available and risk missing the market. Borgward hedged his bets; he claimed a steel quota for each of his four companies but directed it all to his luxury car brand, Hansa, for the Hansa 1500, which was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 1949.
The Hansa 1500 was a large and expensive car that struggled to find a market in devastated Germany, but was instead intended for export to bring in desperately needed hard currency. The cash-strapped German market would have to accept a cheaper, budget car and that car was the Lloyd LP-300
The LP-300 was budget motoring at its most basic. The design was modern, having a pontoon style body that maximized interior body space. However, lack of steel meant the body was constructed of plywood and covered in leatherette for weather protection. It is ridiculed today but was not an uncommon construction method in the 1930s and did not dissuade prospective buyers. Being a lightweight vehicle, it was powered by a 300cc twin-cylinder two-stroke motor, which meant the car could be driven without a drivers license.
Ultimately the model was only a stop-gap. The engine was soon uplifted to 400cc. The wood and leatherette body panels were progressively replaced with steel. The type would evolve into the Lloyd-Alexander model that was widely exported, even to Australia as the Lloyd-Hartnett.
Below is a review from Das Auto May 1950 just before the LP-300 went into series production.
The Lloyd LP300 - A "real" car for 2800 DMhttps://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2022/07/das-auto-magazine-nr-9-may-1950.html
The "Klein-PKW LLOYD LP 300" is a completely new, full-fledged small car with an extremely modern "face" and surprisingly good [interior] space. The test drive proved it: even my own body length of 186 cm had enough space with a seat width of 1220 mm and an elbow width that exceeds that of the DKW Reichklasse by 12 cm. The car looks nice. The so-called "pontoon" body uses the full width, the two divided front seats are sufficiently comfortable, the rear bench offers enough space for two children (or a lot of luggage) - adults of a more voluptuous corpulence would not be comfortable for a long time. The stick gearshift to the right of the steering column and the handbrake, which has been moved far forward to the bulkhead, make the space in front of the front seats completely "leg-free", so that you can easily get out on either side. To save weight, the body is mainly made of plywood with a very hard-wearing Sumit coating. The (removable!) side panels - because one cannot speak of fenders on the pontoon body - are made of sheet steel, but with the same coating. The "face" is modern but by no means clumsy, the vertical radiator cladding is simple and tasteful. The windows of the two doors are designed as lockable sliding windows, similar to those used by Fiat for its "Topolino". Thanks to the wide windscreen and four windows, visibility is good in all directions. The dashboard is kept simple and only has a speedometer to save money.
The new small "LLOYD" is by no means a pseudo-automobile, like most small cars that have recently seen the "light of the world", where you don't know whether it's a motorcycle with four wheels or an automobile with motorcycle characteristics. The "LLOYD" is - seen from the outside - a "proper" automobile with all the necessary attributes of this type of motor vehicle. The technical details reinforce this impression. The engine is fitted into a four-wheel chassis, but one developed around a completely new two-cylinder two-stroke engine with air cooling of around 300ccms, which produces around 10-12 hp. Cooling air is supplied through an axial fan with baffles. The cylinders are vertical and mounted in front of the front axle. After loosening a few screws, the entire drive unit, including the front drive axle, can be removed. Overall, disassembly shouldn't take more than 10-15 minutes.
The gearbox - also a home-made product by Lloyd-Maschinenfabrik GmbH - has three forward gears and one reverse gear. It was still a bit noisy on the car we inspected, but this defect, which is not very significant, should be rectified in the series.
The 18-litre fuel tank is housed under the bonnet, as is the battery. The fuel is gravity fed. With a normal fuel consumption of approximately 5 liters, one filling would be sufficient for more than 300 kilometers. The problem of the suspension, which can cause difficulties in small cars, especially when the load changes, seems to have been satisfactorily solved, although shock absorbers have again been dispensed with for reasons of cost savings. The front drive axle is guided by two superimposed transverse springs - the rear axle, designed as a swing axle, is dampened by normal semi-elliptic springs. A test drive with three full-grown, rather heavy men proved that the designer achieved his purpose with this spring arrangement.
And here are the dimensions: with a wheelbase of 2000 mm (for comparison, the dimensions of the Fiat "Topolino", which has the same wheelbase of 1000 mm, are given in brackets behind it), the total length is 3028 (3215) mm, and the total width is 1300 (1290) mm The track width at the front and rear is about 1050 (1110 and 1080) mm. And now comes the sensation: the vehicle costs DM2800 ex-works and the first deliveries are scheduled for next month! A luxury version, a convertible and a small van are planned. However, the prices for these special versions have not yet been determined. After an extensive test drive on the banks of the Rhine, we discussed even more questions that should also be of interest to our readers. It is now understood that the purchase price of a motor vehicle is not the only decisive factor, but rather the maintenance costs often play a more important role. It is obvious that the so-called "fixed costs" for a vehicle with just 300cc are low (annual tax DM 54.-). But what about the repair and spare parts prices? A company like Lloyd, which until now has mainly built electric vehicles, naturally does not yet have the extensive dealer and agent base that an old-established automobile factory does. It must be said here that Lloyd is quite closely connected to Borgward, with whom the factory originally worked when the company was still Hansa. Lloyd's name was fully united with that brand and it may therefore be assumed that the Borgward dealers and authorized workshops will also act as agents for Lloyd.
What is more interesting, however, is the fact that a constructive thought has already been given to simplifying the vehicle. The entire system is simple and so clear that every bicycle repairman is able to carry out assembly and disassembly. So, for example, only three types of screw threads are used. For all vital parts, however, the principle of complete replacement should be applied, with only seven main groups being distinguished. For example, both the front axle halves and the rear axle halves are interchangeable, and even the two cylinders are designed to be interchangeable.
Lloyd also seems to want to tackle the problem in terms of price. It is intended to supply a complete exchange engine for a price of less than DM 100. All in all, one can say that at last year's microcar meeting of the VDI in Hamburg, the Bremen team paid the greatest attention to the demands made.
Carl Otto Windecker
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