Buchmann

b+b Auto-Exclusiv-Service

Buchmann was a small company based in Frankfurt, Germany. The company, spearheaded by Rainer Buchmann, an accomplished mechanic, specialised in enhancing performance automobiles, such as Porsche's 911, 928 and 924, and the Mercedes S-Class. Tuning programmes were also released for more run-of-the-mill cars, such as the Volkswagen Golf and Polo, and Volvo's 240 Estate car.

The company was launched in the mid-1970s, when demand for modified luxury cars was at its highest. As Buchmann found, collectors, enthusiasts and normal customers were willing to pay for a series of special tweaks to make their car stand out from the norm. Buchmann, with his 'b+b Auto Exclusiv Service', traded on Germanic efficiency and teutonic build quality to deliver some truly breathtaking motorcars. Buchmann delivered many firsts for the car modification world - he, and his highly trained team of mechanics and bodywork specialists, could mould together 'hybrids', taking styling cues from a number of different models and bringing them together into the one, and could place sophisticated electronics into the tight confines of sports cars - for example, colour televisions, CB radios, gold plated switchgear, stereos with graphic equalisers and even fridges into their cars.

Buchmann and his mechanics were forward-thinking and ambitious - and this shines through with some of their projects. For example, a special, based on the 1978 Mercedes W-126 S-Class featured an electrically folding steel roof - a first for the modern era. The bodyworkers pioneered the use of new, as-yet-untested plastics, for areas such as bumpers, and new paint finishes to create some stunning (and equally, some dreadful) versions of normal cars. The company became a byword for interior fittings, and the first 'real' Buchmann Porsche, called the (deep breath) b+b Porsche 911-930-Turbo-Targa, featured the televisions and stereos which had become the norm, but also a refrigerated champagne cooler fitted under liftable gold metallic leather rear seats.

Of course, as of many tuner cars of this era, a few examples stretch the limits of taste, but still serve as a landmark of a time of pioneering engineers, set free by large budgets and barrier-free design briefs.