{{Short description|American businessman (1904–1981)}} {{distinguish|text=German World War I strategist [[Max Hoffmann]] or German journalist [[Max Hofmann]]}} [[File:Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Transaxle.jpg|300px|thumb|Prototype [[Mercedes-Benz 300SL]], developed at Hoffman's request for the U.S. marketplace]] [[File:Porsche 356 A Speedster, Bj. 1956, Front (2016-07-02 b Sp).jpg|300px|thumb|[[Porsche 356]] ''Speedster'', another model suggested by Hoffman]] [[File:BMW 507.jpg|300px|thumb|[[BMW 507]], designed at the suggestion of Hoffman]] [[File:Max Hoffman House1.jpg|300px|thumb|The [[Frank Lloyd Wright]]-designed [[Max Hoffman House]], Rye, New York]]
'''Maximilian Edwin Hoffman''' (12 November 1904 – 9 August 1981), was an Austrian-born, New York-based importer of luxury European automobiles during the 1950s.
Known equally for his acumen and influence, Hoffman was instrumental in development and refinement of several iconic luxury sports cars, including the [[Mercedes-Benz 300SL]] ''Gullwing'', [[Porsche 356]] ''Speedster'', and V-8 powered [[BMW 507]] roadster.
Hoffman's contributions to both automobile development and sports car racing earned him induction into the [[Automotive Hall of Fame]] in 2003.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.automotivehalloffame.org/honors/index.php?cmd=view&id=664&type=inductees |title=Max Hoffman inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame |access-date=2008-12-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303201625/http://www.automotivehalloffame.org/honors/index.php?cmd=view&id=664&type=inductees |archive-date=2016-03-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Both [[Max Hoffman House|his home]] in Rye, New York, and [[Hoffman Auto Showroom|Park Avenue Jaguar showroom]] in Manhattan were designed by famed architect [[Frank Lloyd Wright]].
== Early life == Hoffman was born on 12 November 1904 in [[Vienna]], Austria, to Jewish parents.<ref>https://www.hagerty.com/media/people/legendary-importer-max-hoffman-may-well-have-been-a-crook-but-were-all-in-his-debt/</ref><ref name="Max Hoffman Made Imports Less Foreign to Americans">{{Cite Q|Q120195294|access-date=2023-07-02}}</ref> His father owned a bicycle manufacturing business, where Hoffman worked when growing up.<ref name="Max Hoffman Made Imports Less Foreign to Americans" /> He developed enough skills to get a job as a factory driver for an Austrian company that produced the French [[Amilcar]], and later became a dealer for the brand.<ref name="Max Hoffman Made Imports Less Foreign to Americans" />
==Career== Prior to immigrating to New York City in 1941, Hoffman had been the middle European sales representative of several prestigious European marques as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Alfa Romeo, and Volvo.<ref name=hof>{{cite web |url=http://www.automotivehalloffame.org/honoree/maximilian-e-hoffman/ |title = » Maximilian E. Hoffman {{!}} Automotive Hall of Fame}}</ref> During World War II, when the private market for cars was very slow in the United States, Hoffman used his intuition for possibilities and market niches to start creating jewelry for women, using metallized plastic. He started this business with just 300 dollars, and even in wartime, he earned a small fortune from it. Once the war was over, Hoffman returned to following his true passion for fast and luxurious automobiles. <ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.classic-trader.com/en/magazine/manufacturer-history/max-hoffman-the-mastermind-and-importer-of-the-worlds-most-iconic-sportscars|title=Max Hoffman: The Mastermind and importer of the world's most iconic sportscars.|publisher=Classic Trader|access-date=28 March 2023}}</ref>
Hoffman opened Hoffman Motors in 1947. His first client was [[Jaguar Cars|Jaguar]], for which he was the exclusive importer from 1948 until 1952. From 1950 until 1953, Hoffmann was the importer and distributor for [[Volkswagen]] for the eastern United States. In 1952 he became the importer and sole distributor for Mercedes-Benz.<ref name=hof/>
Hoffman's various dealers made requests through him, both for existing models and new types they thought their customers would purchase in the booming post-war American market. The most famous result of Hoffman's requests is the [[Mercedes-Benz 300SL]] "Gullwing". It took a commitment to personally purchase 1,000 of the luxury coupes to get Mercedes to be willing to take on the substantial cost, and risk, of production.<ref name=hof/> Hoffman had judged the market correctly, as more than 80% of the approximately 1400 300 SLs built were sold in the US, making it the first Mercedes-Benz widely successful outside its home market and thoroughly validating Hoffman's seat-of-the-pants prediction. Its success is credited with changing the company's image in America from a manufacturer of solid but staid luxury automobiles to one once again capable of rendering high-performance sports cars.
Hoffman played an instrumental role in popularizing [[Porsche]] vehicles in the United States, selling one-third of the manufacturer's entire output there in the mid-1950s. Notably, Hoffman's vision for a cheaper, racier version of the Porsche 356 led to the creation of the iconic [[Porsche 356 Speedster]]. He also set a significant milestone by establishing the Porsche emblem, which was designed by Ferry Porsche at Hoffman's urging. Furthermore, Hoffman facilitated Porsche's success in the US by arranging for several Porsche 356 cars to race in various events, resulting in significant victories and increased popularity for the brand in the country.<ref name="auto"/>
Hoffman also became the U.S. importer for [[Alfa Romeo]] in the mid-1950s,<ref name="www.automotivetraveler.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.automotivetraveler.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=991:alfa-romeo-the-first-100-years-part-two-mass-production&catid=196:guest-blogs&Itemid=362|title=Alfa Romeo, The First 100 Years, Part Two: Mass Production|accessdate=2011-01-01|work=www.automotivetraveler.com|archive-date=2010-09-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100915144356/http://www.automotivetraveler.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=991:alfa-romeo-the-first-100-years-part-two-mass-production&catid=196:guest-blogs&Itemid=362|url-status=dead}}</ref> becoming the impetus for the development of the highly successful [[Alfa Romeo Giulietta (750/101)#Spider|Giulietta Spider]].<ref name="autoviva.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.autoviva.com/alfa_romeo_giulietta_spider-info/version/18944 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20171106165401/http://www.autoviva.com/alfa_romeo_giulietta_spider-info/version/18944 | archivedate = 2017-11-06 | title= Alfa Romeo: Giulietta Spider| work= Autoviva }}</ref>
Hoffman was also the importer and sole distributor for [[BMW]] starting in the mid-sixties, credited with spurring the manufacturer to develop the extremely popular [[BMW 2002]] series.<ref name=hof/> and establishing it as premier sport/luxury brand there. As he had with Alfa Romeo by 1961,<ref name="alfabb.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.alfabb.com/?p=376|title=Alfa Romeo advertising: the 1960s. |accessdate=2011-01-09|work=alfabb.com}}</ref> Hoffman sufficiently built up BMW imports to where the manufacturer was able to take on the job directly, selling his business to BMW of North America in 1975.
Some of Hoffman's dealers, such as [[Lake Underwood]], a three-time [[Sports Car Club of America]] national champion in a Porsche 356 and his team's machine engineer, [[Dick DeBiasse]], became instrumental in development, testing, and racing automobiles that would appeal to the American market or influence their choices of brands for purchase.{{cn|date=April 2025}}
==Personal== The [[Max Hoffman House]] in [[Rye, New York]], and its interior, were designed by [[Frank Lloyd Wright]] in 1955, one year after Hoffman had commissioned Wright to design and build his [[Jaguar cars|Jaguar]] [[Hoffman Auto Showroom]] at 430 [[Park Avenue (Manhattan)|Park Avenue]] in [[Manhattan]].
In 1982 Hoffman's widow, Marion, established the non-profit ''Maximilian E. and Marion O. Hoffman Foundation Inc.'', in [[West Hartford]], Connecticut. The charity, which donates to groups, mostly in Connecticut, that further education, medicine and the arts, had assets of approximately $60 million in 2013.<ref>[https://fdo.foundationcenter.org/grantmaker-profile?collection=grantmakers&key=HOFF021&state=%22Connecticut%22&page=6&from_search=1 The Maximilian E. & Marion O. Hoffman Foundation, Inc.] (per 2015-03-31)</ref>
Hoffman, who had a Jewish father,<ref name="Max Hoffman Made Imports Less Foreign to Americans" /> was an auto racer in Europe before immigrating to the United States, by way of Paris, to [[Emigration of Jews from Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe|avoid the Nazis]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.motor1.com/news/70745/max-hoffman-the-father-of-the-european-car-in-america/ |title = General - Automotive News and Trends {{!}} Motor1.com}}</ref><ref name=hof/>
== See also == *[[Lake Underwood]] *[[Ferrari America]] *[[BMW 507]]
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
== External links== * ''[http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-46477763.html Automobile / US-Markt: Aufreißer für Europa]'', [[Der Spiegel]], 9 September 1968, p. 124. * Donald Osborne: ''[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/automobiles/18HOFFMAN.html?_r=2&oref=slogin Max Hoffman Made Imports Less Foreign to Americans]'', [[New York Times]], 18 March 2007 * ''[http://www.stern.de/auto/fahrberichte/visionaer-und-autohaendler-2141040.html Visionär und Autohändler]'', ''[[Stern (magazine)|stern]]'', 26 September 2014. * Christof Vieweg: ''[http://www.sueddeutsche.de/auto/autohaendler-max-hoffman-er-brachte-deutsche-techniker-zum-tanzen-1.2398282 Er brachte deutsche Techniker zum Tanzen]'', [[Süddeutsche Zeitung]], 24 March 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, Max}} [[Category:1904 births]] [[Category:1981 deaths]] [[Category:People in the automotive industry]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Vienna]] [[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]] [[Category:American people of Austrian-Jewish descent]] [[Category:20th-century Austrian Jews]] [[Category:Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States]] [[Category:Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States]]