The great German automobiles of the Classic Era were distinguished by grand styling and exceptionally high-quality engineering, few more so than the products of August Horch’s company. It was in 1932 that the firm launched the rather remarkable 780, which featured a 4.9-liter inline eight-cylinder engine, capable of 100 horsepower, on a solidly designed chassis with semi-elliptical leaf spring suspension and vacuum-assisted brakes. It was often crowned with equally impressive coachwork, including some truly beautiful cabriolets.

An original German Kraftfahrzeugbrief, included within the file, records that the Klein 780 Sport Cabriolet, with its distinctive coachwork including an aviation-style three-piece windshield, was registered in January 1936 to K.H. Gephardt of Frankfurt, next passing later that year to Jurkob Schritz and to another member of his family in the spring of 1938.

In 1957, what appears to have been this car was advertised in CCCA publications by Donald Lemmon of Tacoma, Washington; Lemmon was a retired US Army master sergeant who had married a German citizen, Ursula Radke Borchardt, and it is likely that the Horch had come to the US under his or their auspices. He appears to have been unlucky with the sale, as the car continued to remain available, in local Tacoma newspaper advertisements, into 1963. It is next known to have been purchased in 1982 by Rudi Klein through longtime Seattle Horch enthusiast, Fritz H. Gechter, who may have been representing a principal of J.J. Pruitt Company, a local real estate firm.

Following a decade in Rudi’s ownership, the 780 was shipped to Germany in 1992 and placed on long-term loan at a museum in Ingolstadt. While other Klein cars, including the famous Horch 855 and his 853 cabriolet, were occasionally on exhibit within the museum, the 780 remained in its unrestored condition and largely in storage. Recently, with the dispersal of the Klein Collection, the car was returned to the United States in preparation for sale. It retains what appears to be either original or extremely old finishes, including a largely intact but thoroughly worn interior less several gauges, and exhibits a consistent patina throughout.

It would be charming in cleaned and freshened condition as an example of how many of these great Classics appeared prior to restoration—or would be an outstanding basis for just such a project, at the end of which it would be one of the most attractive eight-cylinder Horchs on the concours field.