This a very rare brochure for the 1935 Standard Merkur light delivery truck. Wihelm Gutbrod founded the Standard Fahrzeugfabrik in 1926 to manufacture motorcycles and agricultural machinery. Standard's motorcycle range sold and the company soon expanded into delivery tricycles similar in design to those of Vidal and Sohn's Tempo and Carl Borgward's Goliath. By the early 1930s, Standard was the third largest manufacturer of commerical tricycles.
In 1932 Gutbrod purchased a license to build Josef Ganz' 'Maikafer' cyclecar in an attempt to break into the growing light vehicle market. Gutbrod and his design team would significantly improve Ganz' very basic design and market the new car as the Standard Superior in 1933. This and many similar microcars were targeting a newly proposed tax niche for sub-500cc vehicles that was a cornerstone policy of the newly elected National Socialist party in Germany. Modern authors have claimed that this fragile, wood-bodied vehicle is the true protogenitor of Ferdinand Porsche's Volkswage, but that claim is greatly exaggerated. https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2015/07/standard-superior.html
Shortcomings with the Mark I model led to wholesale redesign as the Mark II in 1934. The new, improved Superior featured a much more streamlined plywood and leatherette body and slighly improved performance. Only a few hundred of Superior's were sold before the promised tax break was withdrawn, making such cheap cars uneconomical.
Nevertheless, there was also a large market for lightweight commercial vehicles and vehicles with an engine under 500cc did not a drivers license or pay road tax. The Superior concept was reformatted as a light commercial, with a claimed payload capacity of 1.5 tonnes - carried at a very slow speed! Two engines were offered - a water cooled 400cc or a 500cc, mounted ahead of the rear axle (same layout as the Borgward Goliath). Top speed was approximately 60 kilometers per hour, depending on load, which was similar to other lightweight commercials like Framo, Tempo and Goliath.
Under the Schell Plan of 1938, Standard were instructed to cease production of their light commercial range and permitted only to manufacture a smaller range of motorcycles and agricultural machinery. During the war years they did manufacture Tempo A400 tricycles under license from Tempo. The company escaped the war unscathed and were quickly back in action by mid-1945. In the post-war period they traded under the Gutbrod name and manufactured a handsome small car, the Gutbrod Superior, and a light commercial, the Gutbrod Atlas. https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2022/05/1950-gutbrod-superior.html
Interesting Links:
Standard Gutbrod Club: www.standard-gutbrod.de
The Hansa 500 (a car virtually identical to the Standard Superior in design and concept that is never claimed as a progenitor of the Volkswagen 'for some reason'): https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2021/07/1934-hansa-400.html
Tempo Speed Tricycles: http://tempohanseat.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-history-of-vidal-sons-tempo-werkes.html
