jun 24, 1990 - 1990 IDEA Autohersteller Primis 2.2 GT

Description:

The story of this car is a long one, and is also a origin story of the auto manufacturer IDEA Autohersteller.

On September 3rd 1950, in Dresden, Germany, Elias Neumann was born. Elias was an only child, born into a true automotive family. His father, Albert Neumann, was a mechanic by trade, successfully running a garage in Dresden. His wife, Emma, was a true petrolhead and raced cars well into her sixties. So it shouldn't surprise anyone that young Elias developed interest in cars from an early age.

Right from the start, Elias was a big fan of American cars and as a kid he dreamed of owning a 1960 Eagle Emperor, in the Sport Convertible trim of course. His first car, however, turned out to be a Eagle Orion V8 Sport, which he owns and maintains still to this day.

Elias studied to be a car mechanic and had aspirations to make his own automobiles. In 1975, then 25 years of age, he started his search for investors to finance the startup of his own car company, with little success. After two years of trying, he eventually gave up and continued co-running his father's garage, taking over the business later on after his father retired.

The dream still lived on and Elias refused to give it up. He was hellbent on making it happen at some point in his life. It wasn't until 1984 though, that his dream finally came to be. After saving up for years, and finally getting investors on board, he founded IDEA Autohersteller. With the seed money he bought out production ready facilities from a failed startup, and started R&D on IDEA's first production car: The Primis 2.2 GT.

Elias's fascination with American cars are on display when it comes to some of the styling of the car, especially on the front and rear light fixtures. The temptation to stick a growling V8 under the hood was hard to resist, but he opted for the more efficient all aluminum turbocharged inline 4 cylinder engine, designed and built from scratch by IDEA.

After a very successful marketing campaign, the Primis finally launched in June 1990 and was a raving success. It sold really well through out the 90's and quickly put IDEA on the map. It was no turning back for Elias now. With an almost unprecedented will to succeed, and a dash of stubbornness, Elias had not just launced his own car, but did so with great success.

Despite some demand, Elias & Co at IDEA, did not release a lower trim for this car. He felt strongly about that as he said it would water down his "first born" as he put it. Definitely not a man that caves in under pressure and stands by his visons.

Price at launch in 1990:
$16.900

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