Jay Leno’s definition of a hybrid is a little different from the modern usage of the term. For him, a hybrid was a car that combined European styling with an American drivetrain. The idea was to marry beauty and elegance with reliability, affordability and brawn. Cars like the Bizzarini 5300 GT Strada and the Monteverde 375 are just a couple of wonderful examples featured on his YouTube channel over the years. 

Can this concept be applied in reverse? Can 50’s American style with European underpinnings be successfully combined to create something great? Today’s post will not seek to answer that question, but we can share a fascinating example of such a hybrid and leave the decision to you. 

Karosserie Friedrich Rometsch was founded in 1929 and custom built car bodies for well-heeled automobile owners of the day. At the time, automobiles were purchased as chassis and engine only, with bespoke bodies built to the customer’s wishes by coachbuilders like Rometsch.

In the 1950s, Rometsch started dabbling in using the Volkswagen chassis as a base for vehicles, with the first being a fascinating four-door taxicab version of a Beetle.

That design originated with Johannes Beeskow, a designer for Rometsch, whose later creation would wear his name. In a lovely ode to the designer’s contributions, Rometsch named his cars after their creators. The Beeskow was a more luxurious and upmarket take on the Volkswagen and featured an all-aluminum body with VW Beetle running gear and engine. It’s estimated that maybe 170 cars were built.

The next car, christened the Lawrence, was designed by an American furniture designer named Bert Lawrence and was clearly inspired by American designs of the time, but scaled to European proportions. The result is a pretty, if somewhat awkward design. To our eyes, we find styling cues from Buick, Nash and even Studebaker in the form. Things get a little strange in the back, surely due to the rear-engined layout of the Volkswagen.

The car’s interior was far more plush than your average Beetle. Niceties included a padded dash, multiple gauges housed in a lovely integrated pod, a deluxe ivory steering wheel with horn ring and richly cushioned seating. 

The Lawrence, like the Beeskow, was available in both coupe and cabriolet versions. Naturally, the posh Cabriolet included a boot cover for the top and roll-up windows. Practicality for the cabriolet suffered compared to the sedan or the original Beetle packaging, but that’s common for drop-tops.

Powered by a Volkswagen engine putting out only 37hp, the Lawrence didn’t exactly burn rubber. Apparently some owners saw fit to upgrade their cars with Okrasa-built powerplants, which may have moved the aluminum-bodied car down the road a little more swiftly.

The Rometsch Lawrence never sold well, despite being owned by a number of celebrities including the King of Sweden and Audrey Hepburn. It’s believed only 250 examples were ever produced, with even fewer believed to have survived.

This 1958 Rometsch Lawrence is for sale at Cargold in Germany, a dealer we’ve featured before, and the price is available only on application. What could something like this be worth? A Rometsch Lawrence was listed on Ebay with a Buy It Now price of $500,000 in 2022. This seems remarkably high to us. Prior to that, there was this project car for sale on Ebay in 2011 and a Bring A Trailer post regarding another on Ebay back in 2008. That one was apparently bought by the Volkswagen Museum after bidding reached a high of $48,000.

This particular car appears to have been nicely restored at one time with some visible patina here and there. Given prices of collector cars today, expect the ask to be salty. Yet if you want to own something outrageously rare, expensive and eye-catching, this odd yet charming example would likely earn an invitation to any number of exclusive concours.

Wolf and Mare provides car finding, appraisal and auction services for sellers and buyers of collector European cars. We also provide importation services. Give us a call or drop us a line!