Name plate of the Basle coachbuilder Julius Kiilz

Description

The firm of Julius Kolz built primarily mail coaches, mail wagons and commercial vehicles. They built hardly any luxury coaches, although Kolz supplied other coachbuilders with parts for luxury coaches. One wagonette, of the luxury vehicles built by Kolz, is preserved in the collection at Brüglingen. The Swiss postal service ordered its vehicles as a rule from small and medium sized firms, and sometimes even from rural smiths and cartwrights. The plans and exact specifications were laid down by the post office. The name plate shows how important the custom of the post office was to Kolz, since a motor driven parcels van is shown. The name plate is particularly important in illustrating the transition from coach building to motor vehicle body construction. Until well into the 1930s the motor car producer often supplied only the chassis, on which the bodywork maker erected a piece of traditional coach building. The frame of the body was made of ashwood and covered in sheet steel, or later aluminium.