Sporty station wagon: solve this nifty roadster mystery from Leipzig

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This is Leipzig’s Hauptbahnhof—the city’s main railway station—in its full splendour, and the picture likely dates back to the station’s earliest days. The 860,000 sq. ft. premises opened its doors in 1915 with three expansive floors, affording space for more than just train tracks and platforms. Note the colossal lamppost, too.

We’re not here to tell you about the architecture, or the boutique shops and restaurants which can still be found inside. We might be interested in steam trains, but it's not our purpose to write about them, either. There’s no train in sight anyway, but we do see a variety of transportation: a tram, an omnibus, a bike and, very prominently, a car. The thing we’d like to know is what is that natty runabout? The number plate IA 1574 suggests it was registered in Berlin, some 125 miles north of Leipzig. The dickey seat suggests it was used to carry more than one person to the station. At least parking was not quite so much of an issue!

After the Second World War, the heavily bombed station had to make do without a roof for the next ten years, but the building was later restored to its former glory. Look it up if you like. It seems you could still pretty much make a similar picture today.

Words: Jeroen Booij, Picture: source unknown

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