Borgward promises marque relaunch at Geneva motor show

LEGENDARY GERMAN MARQUE TO DEBUT COMEBACK CAR OF SOME KIND

   If we were to do an informal survey of the best-known German marques, Borgward probably wouldn't make it into the top 10, though from 1919 all the way through 1961, it was one of the most popular German manufacturers. Based in Bremen, the company was started by Carl F. W. Borgward, and would eventually field four brands, including Goliath, Hansa and Lloyd. The company was forced into bankruptcy in the early 1960s, but the name lived on, and talk about a relaunch has been kept alive by the founder's grandson, Christian Borgward, who still owns the rights to the trademark.

    Some 54 years after the last Borgward passenger cars rolled off the line, the company is promising a new car to debut at the2015 Geneva motor show. And they've released a teaser video of sorts that goes through some of the Borgward's historic models, ending with the profile of one of their last cars.

  As much as we like to see old brands come back, it often takes the resources of an existing multibillion-dollar company to resurrect an automaker, and even then nothing is certain -- witness Mercedes-Benz and its attempt to revive Maybach for a time as a standalone brand. The bold move eventually led to the creation of a Mercedes-Maybach sub-brand, but not until after Stuttgart spent hundreds of millions. Nissan resurrected Datsun recently as a global entry-level marque, but is already having issues in the markets where the brand has been reintroduced. And of course, even small-scale automakers like Bristol and TVR have shown that just because they can hang on, it doesn't mean that they'll always be churning out cars.

   Borgward isn't giving any clues as to their new automobile, but we sincerely hope it won't be some low-volume sporty coupe concept with a six-figure pricetag -- our memories of Bristol rolling out half-sorted supercars remain vivid.