Wiesmann May Be Dead – But Its Cars Aren’t

Call it a casualty of the death of retro or the blight that decimated the European niche auto manufacturing business. Whichever way you look at it, Wiesmann, we’re sad to say, isn’t around any more. But that doesn’t mean its cars aren’t.

Never heard of it? Understandable, considering how obscure this German manufacturer really was. The company was founded in 1988 by a couple of brothers (whose name you can guess) in the small town of Dülmen in northwestern Germany. It only really ever manufactured one model line – albeit in numerous iterations – before the company went bankrupt in 2013.

The MF5 GT was the pinnacle of them all, a retro coupe powered by the same engine as you’d find in a BMW X5 M or X6 M (circa 2010-13). That 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 sent 547 horsepower and 502 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission to send the 3,000-pound bolide to 62 in under four seconds en route to a top speed quoted at 193 mph.

Wiesmann only ever made 20 of these GTs in MF5 spec, of which one splendid example is now listed for sale on JamesEdition by a dealership in Belgium. It’s done up in classic silver and black and has 2167 miles on the odometer, yet it’s listed for €279,000 – equivalent to nearly $300k at current exchange rates, and representing a premium over the €189,500 that the factory charged when it was still, you know, actually in business.

That’s a handsome markup that makes us wish we’d bought one of these when we had the chance. But the point is that if you missed the opportunity, it hasn’t vanished entirely. Efforts are reportedly underway (by yet another pair of brothers) to revive the dormant marque, but whether those efforts ever come to fruition or not, there’s still second-hand examples like this one kicking around the marketplace, however sporadically.