In the 1950's almost any European or British automaker could set up shop in North America, even if the dealer network consisted of little more than a handful of service stations. The proliferation of such marques at least made it interesting for the auto enthusiast. One make that drew our attention in those years was Germany's Borgward, a front-engine, rear-drive car that competed with the smaller Mercedes classes. Borgward began with a simple 3-wheeler in 1924, progressed to luxurious 6-cylinder autos in the 30's, and by the mid-fifties was offering a handsome 4-cylinder coupe, convertible, and station wagon. The unit-construction Borgward Isabella was well-built but failed to make much headway here and by 1961 the firm was bankrupt; following Carl Borgward's death in 1963, tooling was sold to a factory in Mexico that continued building the cars until 1970. Now Christian Borgward hopes to revive his grandfather's company with two cars slotted between the Ford Mondeo and BMW 3-Series and an ambitious sales target of 10,000 per year. Will we soon see retro Borgwards on the streets? Has anyone seen a Borgward lately? See a brief history of Borgward here.