Silber Schwabe: Old Parts, New Temptation

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Sex sells—even when your business revolves around vintage headlights, magnetos, levers, switches, and sockets. Michael Walz knows all about it. He is an excellent source for anything obsolete from the prewar era, trading under the name Silber Schwabe and marketing these parts in his own unique way. “My friend Hubert Fehrenbach told me to make my webshop stand out,” he says, explaining the introduction of pin-up photography. “A horn is a ‘hupe,’ but it’s also slang for breasts in German. I thought that would make a nice tongue-in-cheek reference, and that’s how these pictures came about. Every parcel I send out includes a flyer in the same style. Normally these flyers are boring; this one may well end up on the workshop wall. And when customers need a specific part, they might just think of that guy in Germany again. I get a lot of feedback, so I assume it works!”

In case you were wondering what a “Schwabe” is—Walz is one. He was born and raised in the Swabia region in southern Germany. “Right in the heart of it. I was born into a family that has been in the butcher trade for six generations. So I trained as a butcher myself and learned how to make sausages. But it was never really my passion. Motorcycles were. When I was 13 or 14, I really wanted a moped, but both my father and my grandfather wouldn’t allow it. It was always work, work—and buy a house as soon as you’ve earned enough money. Well, I did work, but the first thing I bought with my own money was a BMW R35 when I was 17.”

Owning that bike led to a key realization: “I soon found that many prewar cars and motorcycles had been modified over the years.” People began to notice his attention to detail. “They asked me if I had original headlights or horns like the ones on my own vehicles,” he says, “and that’s how I slowly began to specialize in these parts. By 2013, I was trading in classic spare parts.” His niche is specific: “Lights and accessories for motorcycles, cars, and tractors from the pre-1945 era. I buy at markets and military meets, but also online—and I sell online.” After years on eBay and similar German platforms, he chose independence: “Once they started taxing every sale, I figured I’d better do it on my own, which is why I launched my own website.”

The market has also shifted over time: “We used to have large vintage autojumbles and swap meets here, but that market is in decline,” he says. “Today, most of my customers are in Europe. In the past, the UK and the US were major markets too, but that changed dramatically after Brexit and during the presidency of Donald Trump. Now many of my customers are from the Czech Republic or Poland. These people still know how to restore a car.”

Despite supplying many restorers, Walz is clear about his own role: “I have never restored a car myself,” he admits. “I trained as a butcher, not as a vehicle restorer. That’s also why I started dealing.” Asked if he has any favorite vehicles, he says he prefers German and American motorcycles: “NSU and BMW, Harley-Davidson and Indian. But it’s like girls, really,” he adds. “I honestly can’t say I prefer blonde or brunette. When I see something, I either like it or I don’t. I’m open-minded.”

All adverts from Silber Schwabe can be found here.

Words: Jeroen Booij
Pictures: Jens Wenger

Make a comment, ask a question, give your opinion, share additional information or start a discussion by filling in the fields below.