Adler 2.5 Litre History

The last all-new Adler car, introduced in 1937, was an ambitious final statement for the marque's automobile division. Its 2,494 cc six-cylinder engine produced 58 PS (43 kW), respectable for a mid-1930s touring car, but the real talking point was its body — a streamlined shape conceived by Paul Jaray, the aerodynamicist who also styled the Trumpf Rennlimousine.

Jaray's 'spindle' body theory, derived from airship cross-sections, gave the 2.5 Litre a genuinely slippery form for its era, allowing a top speed of around 125 km/h (78 mph). Production continued until 1940, when wartime halted civilian manufacturing. After the war, Adler chose not to resume car production, making the 2.5 Litre the last automobile the company ever built.