1958 Lloyd Alexander LP600 TS
Generously Lent by The Charles & Nancy Gould Family Collection
Air Cooled Front Engine Parallel Twin 596cc 4 Stroke
4 Speed Transmission, Front Wheel Drive, 19 Horsepower
Made in Bremen, Germany by a division of Borgward
Competed with VW Beetle in the European Market
The Lloyd Alexander 600 featured the largest displacement engine model offered in 1957 by the Lloyd Motorwerk division of Borgward of West Germany. It offered a thrifty 4 cycle parallel twin cylinder 600cc air-cooled engine mounted low, in a forward motor compartment to be in the airflow offered by a front grill. The chain driven single cam engine shared the front compartment with a single carburetor and a 25-liter fuel tank, mounted to the car’s firewall. For tax reasons and fuel economy, the Alexander engine was limited to 19 horsepower, taking up to 60 seconds to go from 0 to 60mph (100kph), it’s top speed. The low cost of the vehicle put it squarely in competition to the popular Volkswagen Beetle, which dominated small car sales in post-war West Germany. Unlike the VW, with its horizontally opposed 4-cylinder air cooled engine, the Lloyd’s cooling fins on the engine and cylinders received only marginal air flow.
The Alexander TS was the top model in the Lloyd line of practical air-cooled front engine passenger cars, with upgrades such as a rear opening trunk, fender mounted blinkers, and a 4-cycle engine with 4 forward speed transmission. Horsepower increased to 24hp and a top speed of 68mph. Production numbers approached 176,000 units between 1957 and 1961 but fell way short of the Beetle during the same period. With extremely few examples exported to North America, the Lloyd Alexander remains a rare example of a front engine air cooled automobile best suited to basic city and rural “point A to B” transportation usage.
Specifications:
Configuration: Front-engine, front-wheel drive
Engine: 600cc parallel air-cooled twin-cylinder
Power: 19 hp
Transmission: 3-speed manual
Top Speed: 62 mph
Curb Weight: 1190 lbs