Tscudy Motors Distributor in Baltimore? Hoffman related?

[50Splitman]

I have recently acquired Hoffman sales literature, and I have one piece that I found interesting:

It looks identical to one I have stamped with Hoffman:

I've done some research and found that Tschudy was a long-time, famous automotive importer and dealership in Baltimore area history, but nothing specific on VW, and if he had a relationship with Hoffman. What I found even more interesting, is the spelling of Tscudy vs. Tschudy, which I believe is a misprint.

Does anyone has any insights they can share on this particular importer/distributor, VW, and Hoffman?

My 1950 Hoffman standard was imported on Aug 5th, 1950, but the birth certificate only states Hoffman, NY. I know I'm the 3rd owner, and the first 2 owners (who have passed) were in a suburb of Baltimore. I am curious if Hoffman imported my Beetle, and if the actual local sale may have gone through Tschudy...

[Two Glove Boxes]

Wow, very cool literature! I'm unsure about the Hoffman / Tscudy collaboration, but as for the hundreds of Hoffman cars that came in, I'm sure they couldn't just be selling them out of the dealership in Manhattan. At least from the business side, what makes the most sense is to resell them to other dealers close by.
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1950 Deluxe Sedan Build

1951 Split Standard Hoffman Build

1960 Dove Blue Double Cab Patina Build

Two Glove Boxes IG

[René R.]

Back in the 90s I did a lot of research on Hoffman, after buying my second 1950 Hoffman sedan. I bought the first in 1966 in Massachusetts. A local car all they way. The second was brought to California from Connecticut, where it was still registered when I got it.

I compiled my research into a website, which is no longer online. But here's the archived text file. I believe my research to be accurate, but it has been 30 years since I compiled it so new information may have been uncovered since then.

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Conventional wisdom (and VW corporate lore) has it that the VW was introduced to the U.S. market in 1949, with only two cars sold. This story is technically true, but misleading. VW did indeed sell two cars in the U.S. in 1949, however they were samples that had been shipped over by their Dutch agent in the attempt (unsuccessful as it turned out) to interest an American sales agent. One of the cars was actually a 1948 model. Both samples were sold rather than to go to the trouble of shipping them back to the factory.

Volkswagen did not make an official entry into the U.S. market until mid-1950, after finally signing up the first United States agent, Maximillian Hoffman of New York (with a branch office in Chicago). Hoffman was a dealer in exotic foreign cars, such as the Lagonda, Aston-Martin, Jaguar, and Porsche. He requested the agency for Volkswagen, which the company was only too happy to give to him after their previous unsuccessful attempts. Hoffman was granted the entire eastern half of the U.S. as his territory.

Hoffman introduced the VW with appropriate fanfare, staging a cocktail party at his Park Avenue showrooms on July 16, 1950, to which the press was invited. Whether for the free drinks or the cars, reporters indeed showed up and for the most part they liked what they saw. A month later Hoffman showed the VW at a German trade fair in Chicago.

Hoffman was a dealer, but he was also a distributor who sold at wholesale to smaller dealers in his territory. Apparently he was very casual about granting VW dealerships, letting just about anyone have a franchise even if they were really only buying a car for themselves or friends.

Some of Hoffman's dealers, however, were very serious about the car. None could possibly have been more enthusiastic than Col. Clarence D. Chamberlain of New Haven, Connecticut, pictured above from one of his sales brochures (note that the 1950 VW he's driving has "New Car" license plates, but the bumper is already bent!). Chamberlain was an aggressive dealer who took the liberty of granting sales rights to sub-dealers in his territory (like "Walt's Garage" in Fairfield). His brochures were full of sales pitches that sound distinctly odd to modern ears:

--"Our Army sponsored the importation of West German products through an exhibit at Radio City, New York, some months ago in an effort to get the Germans off our backs financially."
--"It will run well on 13-1/2c tax-free range oil, if rationing comes."
--"If I can't completely rebuild the engine in less than half a day, I'll eat it."
--"A shooting war is the only thing that will interrupt the flow of cars and parts which is increasing every month."
--"The V-W is catching on like wild-fire because from here on out, IT IS SMART TO BE THRIFTY."
--"When I get back into a regular car now I feel like I was [sic] driving a truck."
--"Low priced due to Germany's need for dollars."
--"Most all cars will be Air-Cooled before long."
--"If you have an Air-Cooled V-W you can laugh at high prices and rationing if it comes."

Chamberlain also emphasized the real virtues of the car, and his fervent proselytizing no doubt helped to get the car accepted in New England.

However, Max Hoffman never made the same aggressive attempt to market the VW as Chamberlain did, and Hoffman's wholesale and retail sales were minimal. In 1950 he managed to move a mere 328 cars. In 1951 sales stagnated at 357, and in 1952 he sold only 887. Hoffman's last year, 1953, saw 1,139 VW's sold in the U.S., after which VW decided that perhaps their agreement with Hoffman was overdue for termination. In 1954 VW undertook the effort to establish their own U.S. agency, and a year later Volkswagen of America was incorporated. It was obviously worth the effort, as sales in 1954 jumped to 8,086 and in 1955 to a whopping 32,662 -- 100 times more than Hoffman's 1950 totals. Sales continued to climb at a dizzying rate, peaking at over 400,000 cars a year in 1970.

It's hard to believe that the incredible success of the VW in the United States started on such a haphazard basis with a single sales agent in 1950!
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Gone but not forgotten: 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1966) - another 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1996)

[René R.]

I dug through my files and found a second Chamberlain brochure/flyer, listing a couple of dealers through which he sub-contracted, plus a list of parts suppliers and repair shops he evidently also contracted with. He was evidently a busy guy.

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Gone but not forgotten: 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1966) - another 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1996)

[50Splitman]

Thank you, René R, for pulling from your archives and sharing your research and work to keep the Hoffman legacy alive. I share your sentiment, and I’m honestly a bit disappointed that VW corporate leaned into 2024 as their 75th anniversary of the Beetle in the US vs. when they officially signed a distributor ship contract with Hoffman in July 1950. I think calling out the 2 Beetles that Ben Pon brought into the US is a tragedy that overshadows the work that Hoffman did to bring the first real VW distributor network to the US.

I’m not sure if we will ever know all the individual “dealers” that Hoffman worked with, although I hope one day to find out whether my 1950 Hoffman came directly through his hands, or of it was through Tschudy or another dealer in the Maryland area to complete my understanding of its full lineage.

[Mr. OGPaint]

I once sat down with an original Hoffman dealership operator from Indiana. While Hoffman was a dealer, he was also a distributor for several marques. This man from Indiana said his family sold Hoffman cars of many different brands and dealing with Hoffman was not a well organized operation in many ways.

Having a Hoffman car does not mean your car was sold new in New York by Max Hoffman. What it actually means is the last sale that VW tracked was the delivery to the Hoffman distribution network and the car was delivered to the port in New York. This is very similar to how having a UP designation (Portland), means your car was delivered to Portland Oregon and distributed thru the Riviera Motors Portland network of dozens of dealerships in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Alaska. VW Wolfsburg did not track the cars after they left the distributor.

So, to address the original question even though I'm unfamiliar with Tscudy Motors I would expect they were part of the Hoffman network of dealers prior to the formation of VW of America.
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https://instagram.com/mr.ogpaint
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Patrick Hall

[50Splitman]

I found this letter from Hoffman that someone posted in collectibles auction website called Worthpont. Never heard of it before.

The letter contains a list of Hoffman VW and Jaguar dealers in 1951, alphabetical from the letters J through Z. I couldn’t find an unobstructed picture of the other side of the document which contains the list of dealers from A through J. VW dealers in the list are marked with a “V”.

Tschudy Motors is in the list…spelled correctly vs. the image I posted to start this thread.

I recognize Y.B.H sales and service, the last listing on the bottom right of the unobstructed page. Y.B H. was in business until around 2017 in West Chester, PA.

[René R.]

Nice find! And great story, Mr. OGPaint. This all ties into what I had learned years ago, and fleshes the story out a bit. Too bad the other side of that list isn't available.

Worthpoint is a site that aggregates sales information from various auctions. People subscribe to use it as a reference tool for valuing all sorts of things. That Hoffman document would have been sold on eBay or elsewhere. The Worthpoint listing should list the source and date, but it may be behind the paywall.
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Gone but not forgotten: 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1966) - another 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1996)

[finster]

is there any relevant info in this book?

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"we're here on Earth to fart around" kurt vonnegut

nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect...

[50Splitman]

Not specific to this dealership in Baltimore. Great book for Hoffman enthusiasts, regardless of whether you are into VWs, Porsche, Mercedes, etc.. I purchased a copy of the book when it was first released a couple of years or so ago, and was very pleased with the overall content and pictures.

[Two Glove Boxes]

X2
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1950 Deluxe Sedan Build

1951 Split Standard Hoffman Build

1960 Dove Blue Double Cab Patina Build

Two Glove Boxes IG