TBA is an Austrian car manufacturer founded after WW2 by the Hausmann brothers, who were working as automotive engineers before, and a group of 6 investors.
After some initial difficulties, the company finally became profitable and noted for building cheap, yet reliable and practical cars for rebuilding the war torn europe.
By the mid 50s, europe was rising from the ashes of war and economical growth set in. TBA started to conquer the market with a more diverse range of vehicles.
During the 60s TBA covered almost everything, from utilitarian offroad vehicles to sleek GT´s. Still, the companies backbone was formed by reasonable middle class cars and utility vehicles.
Over the years, TBA´s reputation slowly shifted towards utilitarian yet sporty vehicles for everyday use.
TBA is divided into 2 divisions:
TBA Personenkraftwagen
This division focuses on peoples cars. From small city cars to Sportcars and Luxury barges.
TBA Nutzfahrzeuge
This division focuses on utility and commercial vehicles. Trucks, Vans and Offroad vehicles
The Genius quickly became the backbone of TBA after its release in 1963. Featuring the all new TwinCam engine, it was a reasonable family and commuter car with a sporty attitude.
With the Genius, TBA settled their reputation for building practical, yet sporty cars for everyday use.
In 1971 the first generation of the TBA Genius was replaced by the MK II series. The cars were completely redesigned and updated. As standart came the revised 1.5L TwinCam engine, now producing
13hp more than its predecessor -112hp. The new Genius had a more sporty attitude than the MK I, reflecting in its design, engine and suspension setup. It does the 0-100kph in 10.5 seconds and
reaching a top speed of almost 180kph, which is quite a respectable number for a reasonable family car in 1971.
In 1972 TBA launched their new middle class. The Arion. On launch there was only one engine option available, a 2.8L I6. Over the production circle the engine range was extended with 4 and 8cylinder
options. With its up to date engine line up and different suspension options, the Arion was available in multiple trim levels and ready to face the competition.
1963 was a big year for TBA Automobile. Presenting the all new 4 cylinder TwinCam engine series along with a new car model line up was quite a chance.
Part of the new models was also the Sprint GT. At the production start there was only one engine option available for this car, the 1800 TwinCam.
With its sporty attitude and eye catching design, it was directly aimed at the sub 2000cc Italian and British sports cars and GT´s of the time.
It offered a decent road performance with a 0-100 kmph time of under 10 seconds and a top speed just short of 200 kmph.
Just love the Cortina vibes from the Mk 1 Genius. Really well developed styling. Also good to see some Austrian representation. Were they based in the Soviet or Allied-occupied area of the country?
Also please cue the jokes about that abreviation, ‘TBA’
nearly, the first production 4 valve twin cam was the 1971/2 Ford Escort RS1600, but Alfa, Jaguar, Lagonda and others have been using twin cams since the 40’s, and Bugatti have done since the 1920’s
Just a minor correction, Alfa also used DOHC before the war. And being at the DOHC topic, I think Maserati was the first to use a quad cam layout, with their V8 in 1959 (1963 in “series” road car production).
@Lorenztype You’re Polish, aren’t you? So you should know such car as Fiat 125. Guess what, it had DOHC engine originally, in 1967. Since it was quite advanced for its time we got the older OHV from the 1300/1500 in our 125p.
On the main topic - good looking and detailed cars with some real idea for the brand image, introduced into the cars in a period correct way. I really like it
The Apollon MK I was launched in 1948. It was one of TBA´s first cars and the one on which the company built its success. It was a reasonable yet practical and reliable car for the economical
weak times of post war europe. It was available in sedan and van configuration.
The Apollon L - series was introduced by TBA Nutzfahrzeuge along the standart Apollon. It was the utility version, available on 2 different platforms, a small and medium sized utility van.
You pretty much got the idea of how to design a classic car down pat. All designs you posted so far are accurate, simple-but-cohesive and very, very detailed.
My personal favorite is the Genius, because both designs hark back to two different cars; the Cortina-esque Mk.1 and the Chevrolet Opala-esque Mk.2.
Despite taking influences from two different continents, you created two very Euro cars!
The Apollon MK II was the replacement of the successful first Gen in 1955. The expectations were high but the MK II lived up to its challenge. With a new and more economical yet more powerful engine
and lots of different vehicle configurations it immediately became a hit. It was available as sedan, wagon, van and convertible.
In 1951, TBA revealed a facelift model of the MK I Apollon. It featured a different styling, new body options and a slightly tuned engine. It stayed in production until the release of the MK II in 1955.
