Wilhelm Karmann is considered the father of the convertible. His successful family business produced around three million bodies in the last century - mostly open and mostly for other major carmakers. But in the end, life in the niche doesn't work.

The world looks most beautiful to those who whiz through it without a roof, Wilhelm Karmann thinks. It's 1901, and the 30-year-old from Krefeld has just made one of the most important decisions of his life. The ink on the contract with Minna Klages is still wet: Since August 1, 1901, Karmann has been the new owner of Christian Klages, Osnabrück's largest carriage builder, along with 15 employees and two houses at Kamp 30/31. The business is known beyond the city limits. Since 1874, everything with wheels has been built or repaired there. And Karmann is no stranger to the industry. The trained wheelwright has a soft spot for everything that rolls over the roads as smoothly and quickly as possible.

The go-getting businessman has been drawing open-top cars since he was a child. But at a time when carriages plied the rough roads, the thought of a motorized vehicle with a folding roof is almost outrageously progressive. Besides, folding designs that not only offer safety but are also waterproof and warm are considered cranky. Still. Karmann designs and tinkers in the evenings. During the day, in addition to carriages, he produced the first car bodies for Dürkopp, Opel and Minerva. Finally, in 1913, he registered his patent for a folding, rainproof car roof in Berlin and was thus considered the father of convertible roofs.

On November 24, 1908, he married Mathilde. Their eagerly awaited son Wilhelm Jr. was born on December 4, 1914. Karmann's customers, Hansa, Hansa-Lloyd and Mannesmann, are well-known, but he is still missing the big hit. In 1921, the first major order arrives: the Aktiengesellschaft für Automobilbau Berlin (AGA) orders 1,000 car bodies. From now on, Karmann was one of the industry giants, and its hobbyhorse, the folding convertible roof, became the darling of high society. In 1932, 150 employees build 16 Adler Primus cabriolets a day; by 1939, the company already has 800 employees producing 65 bodies a day.

After the Second World War, notable orders from Ford and VW got the supplier back on its feet. In 1949, Wilhelm Karmann achieved his greatest coup: the 78-year-old produced a four-seater Beetle convertible at his own expense and presented the prototype in Wolfsburg. The series order is received on the same day. By 1988, 331,487 of these cars will have rolled off the production line. Senior boss Karmann remains at the helm of the company until his death in 1952. By this time, it has 1452 employees and sales of $15 million.

His son, Wilhelm Jr., has another brilliant idea soon after. He wants to put the successful Beetle engine into a snazzy, sporty body. Volkswagen is skeptical, since sports cars need more than 30 horsepower and should be faster than 115 kilometers per hour. Karmann talks to Luigi Segre, his Italian friend and chief stylist at Carrozzeria Ghia. The result, the VW Karmann-Ghia, is celebrated to this day as an icon of the past century and finally brings the Karmann company into the spotlight. Almost 400,000 of the VW Karmann-Ghia, relatively expensive at 7500 marks, are produced until 1974.

Today, the "housewives' Porsches" or "secretaries' Ferraris" are collectors' items. "If we had more skilled workers, we could build even more cars and we would sell them," Karmann exults at the end of the 1950s. Times are good, he expands with plants in Brazil and Portugal, builds for BMW, Daimler and also Audi.

But the history of the family business ends tragically. After Wilhelm's death in 1998, his three children cannot come to an agreement. In view of new flexible production systems at the major carmakers, business is also becoming increasingly difficult for a supplier. When doubts then arise about the company's solvency and orders start to fall away, Karmann is at the end of the road in 2009. The company Webasto takes over the roof division, VW the car production for almost 40 million euros. What remains? To this day, the convertible model of the VW Golf is still produced in Karmannstraße. ®

Author: Jennifer Bligh