Lloyd 600


The Lloyd 600 was a small car produced by the Borgward Groups's Lloyd Motoren Werke GmbH in Bremen between 1955 and 1961.
The Lloyd Alexander was identical to the Lloyd 600 in most respects, but in place of the three speed transmission of the Lloyd 600, the Lloyd Alexander featured a four-speed gear-box. The Lloyd Alexander was offered, in parallel with the Lloyd 600, between 1957 and 1961. One difference visible from the outside was that the Lloyd Alexander included an opening hatch into the rear luggage locker, whereas drivers of the Lloyd 600 had to reach behind the rear seat in order to access the luggage locker.
There was also a Lloyd Alexander TS offered between 1958 and 1961 which featured a larger carburetor and a high final drive ratio, as a result of which it offered a maximum power output of 25 PS instead of the 19 PS available from the engine fitted to the Lloyd 600 and standard Lloyd Alexander.

Engine and running gear

Lloyd 600 and Lloyd Alexander

The Lloyd 600 and Lloyd Alexander were powered by an air-cooled two cylinder engine with a chain driven overhead camshaft. Unlike the Lloyd 400 which the Lloyd 600 initially complemented and then - after 1957 - replaced, the newer car featured a four-stroke engine. The cylinders were configured in parallel. The engine capacity of 596cc provided for a maximum power output of 19 PS at 4,500 rpm in the version supplied on the Lloyd 600 and the standard Lloyd Alexander, applying a 6.6:1 compression ratio. The top speed listed was 100 km/h and the car could reach 100 km/h from a standing start in 60 seconds. The car was fueled using "regular" grade petrol/gasoline and when driven normally consumed fuel significantly more frugally than West Germany's best selling small car, the Volkswagen. Space was at a premium in the Lloyd 600 and the 25 litre fuel tank was accommodated ahead of the bulkhead underneath the front hood/bonnet in a space shared with the engine and the six-volt battery. Power was fed to the front wheels via a three speed manual gear box which used the same ratios as it had on the earlier Lloyd 400 from which it was lifted.

''Lloyd 600: Names''

Sources sometimes follow the manufacturer in adding a two digit prefix to the name of the Lloyd 600 in order to differentiate between different body types as follows:
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Lloyd Alexander TS

The Lloyd Alexander TS which appeared in 1958 was easy to differentiate from the basic Lloyd Alexander due to its "semi-elliptical" front grille. The TS was fitted with an all-synchromesh four-speed gear box. Thanks to the larger carburetor and raised compression ratio – in this application of 7.2:1 – the manufacturer was able to claim a top speed for the Lloyd Alexander TS of 107 km/h and the time to 100 km/h from a standing start was reduced to 56 seconds.
The Lloyd Alexander TS also came with a completely redesigned back axle, which significantly improved the car's handling, and anticipated the rear-suspension configuration on the Lloyd Arabella. The rear axle was attached using semi-trailing arms with "progressively acting" coil springs. The TS also incorporated detailed enhancements such as the windscreen washer system and, new for 1957, asymmetrically dipping headlight beams.

Body

As with its predecessor, the Lloyd 400, the full name of the Lloyd 600 featured a two letter prefix that identified the body shape as follows: LP600, LC600, LK600 and LS600. With the Lloyd Alexander these prefixes were dropped. There was, in any case, no "Cabrio-Limousine" version of the Lloyd Alexander listed.
Ten years earlier, with steel in desperately short supply, Lloyds in this class had been constructed round a timber frame, and covered with synthetic leather, or more recently using a combination of steel panels for the "outer door skins" and fabric covering for parts of the car body not needing the same level of exterior rigidity. This history was reflected in the structural architecture of the newer steel-bodied Lloyd 600 and Lloyd Alexander models. The Lloyd 400 had, since October 1954, used an all-steel body, with panels that were bolted on to the steel frame and were therefore far easier to replace, if necessary, than bent body panels on competitor models from Volkswagen or NSU, constructed with welded steel body shells. This feature was carried over to the Lloyd 600 and Lloyd Alexander. The body sat of a tubular steel chassis.
The windscreen on the Lloyd 600 and Lloyd Alexander models was flat. At the back, however, on all Lloyd saloons/sedans a small flat rear window had been replaced by a full-width curved rear window back in 1954. The doors were hinged at their rear edge through till 1961, by which the arrangement was becoming rare. It facilitated access, at least to the front seats, but by the 1960s people were beginning to express safety concerns over the risk of the doors bursting open while the car was moving.
The Lloyd Alexander saloon / sedan was differentiated from the Lloyd 600 by an external "boot/trunk lid" giving access to the luggage compartment for those unable or unwilling to clamber into the passenger cabin and reach past the back of the back seat. Another visible difference was the windows on the doors, which on the Lloyd Alexander wound down fully into the doors. On the Lloyd 600 only the front half of the two part door window could be opened, sliding horizontally backwards, a lightweight inexpensive arrangement which was replicated in Britain on the first Minis in 1959.
The Lloyd 600 / Lloyd Alexander body offered accommodation in the passenger cabin for four adults, but access to the rear seat was difficult and space cramped, with the width of the back seat reduced by the space taken up by the rear wheel arches. There was more space at the front, although there were criticisms that the steering wheel was too close to the driver. The luggage locker at the back had a total computed capacity of 104 litres.
Lloyd itself still had no heavy presses for stamping body panels from sheet steel. Body panels for the Lloyd 600 and Lloyd Alexander were produced by Allgaier and Karmann and then delivered in bare-metal form to the Lloyd factory in Bremen for machining, assembly and painting.

Commercial

''Lloyd 600 & Alexander: Combined output (units)''

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