dumb question - definition of "coachbuilt"

[gkb]

Now I know that the e9 was coachbuilt meaning that Karmann
built the bodies for BMW and that it was common for dedicated coachbuilders to do in the past with Bugattis and the like, but does it mean anything else about handmade or whatever regarding the fabrication of the body or just that someone else supplied the body to the car manufacturer (in this case BMW)?

 

[velocewest]

I'd say you've got it. The e9 and early e24's were largely assembled by hand, but not "hand-crafted" like a vintage Ferrari or Bugatti. The panels were formed with reasonably modern stamping techniques, not hammered over wooden bucks and smoothed on an english wheel, and the panels are assembled with spot welds into a unit body.

Coach builders still exist. Most limousines, hearses and specialty cars like the Pope-mobile are the product of coachbuilders who use major manufacturer models as the basis for custom vehicles.

 

[ScottAndrews]

I thin the other aspect of this is that there are some aspects fo the E9 body that ARE hand crafted. The body panels may not be hand formed on the thighs of virgins, but the body is not welded together by robots. It is spot welded and then many of the seams are finished by hand. The result is a unique body in which the doors hood and trunk lid are the only non-integral elements.

So the E9 is not hand crafted, but it is hand finished in a way that few, if any, cars are (or have been for decades).

S

 

[Jellobmw]

Karmann Coaches

Karmann has a neat website showing all the bodies they have built over the years. Many I've never seen.

About 8 years ago while in Alexandria Egypt, I came across a dusty old VW parked on the street; looked like it had been there for a year. Very interesting coupe body. Well its was a Type III, which a saw for a second time on the karmann site.