1947 Veritas Großmutter
The Veritas Grossmutter is widely regarded as the first car built by the Veritas company and quite possibly the first German-built racing car constructed after World War II. Assembled in 1945 in French-controlled Sigmaringen by Ernst Loof, Georg Meier, and Lorenz Dietrich around a BMW 328 chassis, the car was subsequently raced by Georg Meier, Toni Ulmen, and Hans Herrmann, accumulating three German championship titles across 1948, 1950, and 1951. After decades in private hands, it was restored in the mid-1980s and survives today in its 1951 two-seater open-wheel configuration.
Ownership
- —Auction saleSold €320,000 (≈ $352K)
Competition
No competition history extracted from the catalogue.
Maintenance & restoration
- 1950BodyworkKarosseriewerke Joseph Hebmüller Söhne
Ulmen commissioned a new lightweight monoposto single-seater body of his own design, fabricated by Karosseriewerke Joseph Hebmüller Söhne, replacing the original pontoon-style bodywork. The new body reduced the car's weight by approximately 50 kilograms.
Period photographs of the bodywork process are on file.
- 1951Bodywork
The car was converted from a single-seater monoposto into a two-seater open-wheel configuration at Ulmen's instruction; this is the body configuration the car retains today.
- 1952Modification
Removable cycle-type mudguards were fitted to satisfy revised sports car racing regulations for the season.
- 1952Repair
Following the crash at the fourth Sachsenringrennen, the car sustained damage and was sold as a wreck; Hans Klenk subsequently rebuilt it in the two-seater open-wheel form.
- 1953MechanicalHans Klenk
Hans Klenk prepared the Grossmutter and delivered it to the Nürburgring for Hans Herrmann; a period invoice documents this work.
A copy of the 1953 invoice from Klenk to Herrmann is retained in the car's history file.
- 1986Restoration
Gerhard Ulmer undertook a restoration of the car after acquiring it without an engine in 1983; the work was completed by approximately 1986.
The car was found in a German estate, believed to be that of the dentist who had owned it since the 1950s.
- —Bodywork
Minor alterations were made to the front nose section of the car.
Carried out by Dieter Aumann in the early 1990s.
Are you the owner of this car?
This car's public record is built from its auction and competition history. Register your ownership and privately add your own records to make it a verified Legacy Metrics passport — provenance that backs your car's value at sale and gives your insurer evidence to price against. Roy reviews and verifies every registration personally.