Erdmann & Rossi – the Collectors

Even at the time of the historical coachbuilding firm Erdmann & Rossi (-1949), enthusiastic customers began to collect vehicles equipped with Erdmann & Rossi bodies. Today, both private and public collections that include vehicles with a coachwork by Erdmann & Rossi are not uncommon.

The greatest known collector of cars with a coachwork by Erdmann & Rossi was Lithuanian Saulius Karosas. His SK collection contains a number of Erdmann & Rossi originals, as well as some superb replicas, which he regularly presented at exhibitions and competitions.

Karosas’ collection is expertly run by Emmanuel Bacquet, a former director of the Cité de l’Automobile, Collection Schlumpf. On this page, we will give you a glimpse into the SK collection.

A Horch 853A Erdmann & Rossi special roadster was for a long time part of the collection held by American Joseph Cassini III.

American industrialist Arturo Keller has been collecting historical vehicles for many decades. His collection includes a Mercedes SSL Erdmann & Rossi from 1930, which has won Keller several awards including the “Best of Show” title at Pebble Beach in 2001.

Dr Helmut Hofmann from Neumarkt/Oberpfalz owns an unrestored Maybach SW 38 Pullmann Landaulet with an Erdmann & Rossi body. Unfortunately, this vehicle is currently not on display in Hofmann’s excellent Maybach museum.

The Cité de l’Automobile (Musée Nationale, Collection Schlumpf) in Mulhouse has numerous vehicles with Erdmann & Rossi bodies, including a Bugatti 55 Roadster from 1935 and a Mercedes 540 K Roadster from 1936.

The current exhibition at Technikmuseum Speyer includes a replica of a Mercedes-Benz 500 K with a streamline body by Erdmann & Rossi built  in 1936 for the Iraqi King Ghazi.