Melkus sports car GmbH History

Automotive manufacturer Dresden , Germany

Melkus is a German small series car manufacturer from Dresden . The brand is owned by the Melkus family and is now run by the third generation.

History 

The company founder Heinz Melkus led from 1955 to 1990 Heinz Melkus KG , a driving school with attached sports car . In workshop operation, Heinz Melkus designed and manufactured his own racing and sports cars and used them at international motorsport events.

In 1969, the Melkus RS 1000 presented a street-legal model, the only sports car in the GDR. The RS 1000 was a roadworthy mid - engine sports car based on the Wartburg 353 . From this model created 101 copies until the production ceased in 1980.

Both sons of the company founder, Ulli and Peter Melkus , worked until 1990 in the family business. Ulli Melkus took over the workshop management in the 1970s. He was also instrumental in the development of the SRG MT 77 and coined significantly as a technician and racer motorsport in Eastern Europe. In a traffic accident Ulli Melkus accidentally killed on 18 June 1990.

In 1990, the company re-emerged in the wake of reunification . Autohaus Melkus GmbH was founded as the first authorized BMW dealer in the new federal states, and the driving school business as well as sports car construction were discontinued.

Autohaus Melkus GmbH was run by Peter and Birgit Melkus in Dresden until 2006 and subsequently sold to the Schloz-Wöllenstein Group. The Melkus dealership is no longer operatively managed by the Melkus family, but continues to bear the name Melkus. In 2013, a second location of the Autohaus Melkus in Chemnitz was opened.

Ronny Melkus , the son of Ulli Melkus, was in the 1990s professional racers u. a. in Formula 3 as team-mate Ralf Schumacher and in the Opel factory team.

With the founding of Melkus Sportwagen KG by Sepp Melkus (son of Peter Melkus), sports car construction was revived in 2006 with a new edition of the Melkus RS 1000 "Heinz Melkus Edition". 2009, the company was converted into the Melkus sports car GmbH to implement a modern new development, the Melkus RS 2000 .In August 2012, the management filed for bankruptcy, as not enough vehicles could be sold. 

Today, in small numbers by Peter Melkus vehicles of the type Melkus RS 1000 GTR continue to be manufactured as a reconstructing reconstruction. Sepp Melkus works as a consultant in his father's company as well as in other sports car projects with a focus on lightweight bodywork developments - among other things, he brought his knowledge to the Radeberger VSpeed ​​V77 .

Models