Hanomag 2/10 PS "Kommissbrot" History

Hanomag launched the 2/10 PS in the spring of 1925 as an ultra-economy car for the inflation-scarred German market. The car weighed just 370 kg and used a rear-mounted 499 cc single-cylinder water-cooled engine producing 10 PS, driving the rear axle by chain with no differential. Its rounded, bread-loaf silhouette earned it the popular nickname Kommissbrot — 'army bread' — after the standard-issue German military loaf it resembled.

The 2/10 PS returned fuel consumption of about 4.0 litres per 100 km (roughly 59 mpg US), making it the most fuel-efficient mass-production car in the world between the two World Wars. Priced at 2,300 Reichsmarks, it was within reach of skilled workers and is regarded as one of the first cars to adopt full envelope styling.

Production reached 15,775 units before the model was discontinued in 1928, replaced by more conventional designs. By 1927–1928 Hanomag was building 80 Kommissbrot cars per day. Very few survive today.