Puch - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Manufacturing

Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...

company located in Graz

Graz

The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...

, Austria. The company was founded in 1889 by the industrialist Johann Puch

Johann Puch

Johann Puch was an inventor and mechanic who went on to become a very significant vehicle producer in Europe...

and produced automobiles, bicycles, moped

Moped

Mopeds are a type of low-powered motorcycle designed to provide economical and relatively safe transport with minimal licensing requirements.Mopeds were once all equipped with bicycle-like pedals , but moped has been increasingly applied by governments to vehicles without pedals, based on their...

s, and motorcycles.

Pre 1919

Johann Puch

Johann Puch was an inventor and mechanic who went on to become a very significant vehicle producer in Europe...

first produced bicycles in 1889 in a small workshop called "Fahrradfabrikation Strauchergasse 18 a" in Graz

Graz

. Ten years later he founded his company, "Erste Steiermärkische Fahrradfabrik AG" (en

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

: "First Styrian Bicycle AG"). Puch's company became successful through innovation and quality handicraft, rapidly expanding over time. It soon began producing motorcycles and moped

Moped

s.

The main production plant, later called "Einser-Werk", was constructed in the south of Graz, in the district of Puntigam. Production of engines was started in 1901 and cars

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

followed in 1904. In 1906 the production of the two-cylinder

Cylinder (engine)

A cylinder is the central working part of a reciprocating engine or pump, the space in which a piston travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically cast from aluminum or cast iron before receiving precision machine work...

Puch Voiturette began and in 1909 a Puch car broke the world high-speed record with 130,4 km/h. In 1910, Puch is known to have produced sedans for members of the imperial family.
In 1912, the 38 PS (horsepower) Type VIII "Alpenwagen" was developed.

In 1912 Johann Puch went into retirement and became the company's honorary president. In that year the company employed about 1,100 workers and produced 16,000 bicycles and over 300 motorcycles and cars annually. During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Puch became an important vehicle

Vehicle

A vehicle is a device that is designed or used to transport people or cargo. Most often vehicles are manufactured, such as bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, boats, and aircraft....

supplier to the Austro-Hungarian Army

Austro-Hungarian Army

The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...

. However with the collapse of the empire following the War, the market for automobiles shrank and production was discontinued.

Between wars

In 1923 an Italian engineer Giovanni Marcellino is said to have been sent by the banks to wind up the Puch factory in Graz

Graz

. Instead of which, within a few weeks he had settled down to live in the town, designing and then producing a new version of the split-single

Split-single

The split-single , is a variant on the two-stroke engine with two cylinders sharing a single combustion chamber.There have been "single" and "twin" The split-single (Doppelkolbenmotor to its German and Austrian manufacturers), is a variant on the two-stroke engine with two cylinders sharing a...

. Taking his inspiration from industrial counter-piston engines, the new engine benefited from the improved breathing of the Italian original, to which he added asymmetric port timing. In 1931 Puch won the German Grand Prix with a supercharged split-single, though in subsequent years the split-singles of DKW did better.

In 1928 the company merged with Austro-Daimler

Austro-Daimler

Austro-Daimler was an Austrian automaker company, from 1899 until 1934. It was subsidiary of the German Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft .-Early history:...

and became a part of the new Austro-Daimler-Puchwerke. This company in its turn merged in 1934 with Steyr AG to form Steyr-Daimler-Puch

Steyr-Daimler-Puch

Steyr-Daimler-Puch was a large manufacturing conglomerate based in Steyr, Austria, which was broken up in stages between 1987 and 2001. The component parts and operations continued to exist under separate ownership and new names.-History:...

. Like all enterprises of its kind, the Puch production plants had to change to arms production during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The existing capacity was insufficient, therefore a second plant was constructed and opened in 1941 in Thondorf, Graz. In the three original assembly halls, luxury vehicles for the American market were produced.

WWII

Steyr-Daimler-Puch

is one of the companies known to have benefited from slave labor housed in the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp

Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp

Mauthausen Concentration Camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that was built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria, roughly east of the city of Linz.Initially a single camp at Mauthausen, it expanded over time and by the summer of 1940, the...

system during World War II

World War II

. Slaves from the camp (who had initially been worked to death in quarries) started to be used in a highly profitable system used by 45 engineering and war-effort companies, and amongst them Puch had an underground factory built at Gusen

Gusen

Gusen is the name of the biggest and most brutal Nazi concentration camp complex on Austrian territory. Originally called "Mauthausen II", the camp consisted of three camps and toward the end of the war, was annexed to Mauthausen concentration camp...

in 1943.

Post-War years

During the period immediately after the war, late 1945 to 1947, the factory was requisitioned and run by the British Army (R.E.M.E.) who used the facilities and what remained of the workforce for the repairing and servicing of British and American military vehicles. In 1949, an assembly cooperation agreement was signed with Fiat

Fiat

FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...

in Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

. The 1950s to the mid-1970s saw a sharp increase in production of motorcycles, bicycles and mopeds. Even though Puch was a part of Steyr-Daimler-Puch, it still produced products under its own name, as well as for Steyr-Puch and other companies. Puch gave up racing in the 1950s and split-single production ended around 1970.

1953: Puch launched two new motorcycles, the 125 and 175 SV.
1954: The very successful MS 50 moped
Moped
Mopeds are a type of low-powered motorcycle designed to provide economical and relatively safe transport with minimal licensing requirements.Mopeds were once all equipped with bicycle-like pedals , but moped has been increasingly applied by governments to vehicles without pedals, based on their...

was launched.
1957: The legendary Puch 500
Puch 500
Puch 500 was a small car produced by Steyr-Daimler-Puch in the city of Graz, Austria. It was manufactured under license from Fiat and was based on the Fiat 500.- The beginning :In 1954 it was decided at Steyr-Puch to resume car production after the war...

small car came on the market.
1958: Production of the Steyr-Puch Haflingers started. 16,657 vehicles are produced in total and exported into 110 countries.
1966 Sobiesław Zasada wins the European Rally Championship
European Rally Championship
The European Rally Championship is the European continental championship series in rallying. It is organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile .-History:...

on a 650 TR II.
1969: The most successful Puch product is launched, Puch Maxi moped, 1.8 million of which are built.
1970: The cross-country Steyr-Puch vehicle Pinzgauer
Pinzgauer High Mobility All-Terrain Vehicle
The Pinzgauer is a family of high-mobility all-terrain 4WD and 6WD military utility vehicles. They were manufactured in Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom, by BAE Systems Land & Armaments. The vehicle was originally developed in the late 1960s by Steyr-Daimler-Puch of Graz, Austria, and was named...

was launched - production continued until 1999 with over 24,000 built.
1973: Production of the Fiat 126
Fiat 126
The Fiat 126 is a city car introduced in October 1972 at the Turin Auto Show as a replacement for the Fiat 500. Most were produced in Bielsko-Biała, Poland as the Polski Fiat 126p until 2000...

with a Puch engine commenced.
1975: Harry Everts
Harry Everts
Harry Everts is a former motocross racer from Belgium. Everts won the 1975 F.I.M. 250cc world championship as a member of the Puch factory racing team. After a period with Bultaco he signed with the Suzuki factory team and won three consecutive 125cc motocross world championships between 1979 and...

wins the 250cc Motocross
Motocross
Motocross is a form of motorcycle sport or all-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed off road circuits. It evolved from trials, and was called scrambles, and later motocross, combining the French moto with cross-country...

World Championship for Puch.
1978: Record-setting year, seeing the production of over 270,000 mopeds and motorcycles as well as 350,000 bicycles.
1979: A joint-venture with Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

saw Puch building the engine for the Mercedes-Benz G-Class
Mercedes-Benz G-Class
The original 460-series Geländewagen went on sale for civilian buyers in 1979, after having debuted in February of that year. It was offered with two wheelbases, a short wheelbase of 2,400 mm and a long one of 2,850 mm. One could choose between three body styles: A two-door short...

in Graz.
1981: Puch has Speed Unlimited of Wayne, NJ manufacture a BMX
BMX
Bicycle motocross or BMX refers to the sport in which the main goal is extreme racing on bicycles in motocross style on tracks with inline start and expressive obstacles, and it is also the term that refers to the bicycle itself that is designed for dirt and motocross cycling.- History :BMX started...

line called the Puch Trak Pro.
1983: A joint-venture with Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...

saw the Volkswagen Type 2 (T3)'s
Volkswagen Type 2 (T3)
The Volkswagen Type 2 was the third generation of the Volkswagen Transporter and was marketed under various nameplates worldwide – including as the Transporter or Caravelle in Europe, Microbus in South Africa and as the Vanagon in North and South America.Larger and heavier than its...

engine being built in Graz.

Puch scooters

The late 1950s saw strong sales of the Puch 125cc two-stroke single motorscooters, which had three gears shifted from the left twistgrip. These machines developed a reputation for reliability and were popular for daily commuting, providing good weather protection and ease of use with an electric starter. In this role their moderate performance, with a top speed of around 45 mph, was not a problem. Later models had a 150cc engine and foot-operation, giving better performance of 6 hp

Horsepower

Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...

instead of 5 hp but retaining the three gears.

Puch mopeds

Puch produced Maxi, Puch Newport, and MK mopeds, which were popular from the late 1970s to early 1980s.

In Austria and the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, Puch mopeds played a big role in the 1960s popular culture

Popular culture

Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...

.

Puch mopeds in Sweden were, and still are, very popular. They were all named after US states, except the Maxi and the Monza.

Some of the more popular models were:

The Dakota (VZ 50) 50cc fan-cooled, 3speed gearbox. In fact, the most popular by far.

The Florida (MV 50) 50cc fan-cooled, 3speed gearbox.

The Alabama (DS 50) 50cc fan-cooled, 3 or 4speed gearbox.

The oldest mopeds often had a 50 cc fan-cooled engine with a 1 or 2speeded gearbox (cric-crac) and
newer mopeds had many different, (always 50cc), engines such as:

Fan-cooled, 3speed (Dakota, Dakota 3000, Nevada)

Fan-cooled, 4speed (Mexico)

Wind-cooled, 3speed (Arizona, Monza M50, Montana, Monza 3C)

Wind-cooled, 4speed (Monza 4speed)

Puch BMX

Puch began making BMX bikes as early as the 1970s. Many different models appeared including the Challenger, Invader and Trak Pro.
In 1981 they worked with Speed Unlimited in Wayne, New Jersey to manufacture a line of high end BMX race bikes. Speed Unlimited also made bikes for Hutch and their own brand Thruster. The model they made for Puch was the Trak Pro. In 1981 Puch also began sponsoring BMX racers across the United States. The green, black and white uniform was soon showing up at BMX tracks across America, especially in the Northeast. You can see a collection of Puch's at the BMX Museum - Puch Collection

Puch Maxi

The Maxi is one of Puch's most well known machines along with the Magnum and Newport models. The Puch Maxi is a moped

Moped

fitted with a single cylinder

Cylinder (engine)

, 49cc, two stroke engine .

The engine produced around 2hp

Horsepower

and could propel the rider at speeds of 28 mph (48 km/h).

It was started using the pedals which could be engaged and disengaged from the engine via a starting lever so it could be ridden as a normal bicycle.

Later models did not have pedals, and instead were started with a kick start mechanism.

Puch motorcycle marketed as the "Twingle"

Puch is perhaps best remembered in the US for importing the SGS 250

Puch 250 SGS

The Puch 250 SGS was a motorcycle manufactured by the Austrian Steyr Daimler Puch AG in Thondorf near Graz.The motorcycle was powered by a split-single two-stroke engine...

, the first and last split-single

Split-single

seen there. Marketed by Sears in their catalogue as the "Twingle", it was styled much like a BMW

BMW Motorrad

BMW Motorrad is the motorcycle brand of the German company BMW, part of its Corporate and Brand Development division. The current General Director of the unit is Hendrik von Kuenheim....

of the 1950s and 60s. The layout had been popular in Europe between the wars because it improved scavenging, and hence fuel consumption, a feature considered less important in the US. New models after World War II had an internal re-arrangement which improved piston lubrication, reducing wear on the most vulnerable part of the engine, while an early system of pumping the two-stroke oil, along with the twin spark-plug ignition, greatly improved day-to-day reliability. Despite the racing heritage and performance potential of the split-single engine, this particular Puch model, with a top speed around 110 km/h (68.4 mph), was at a disadvantage against the loop-scavenged

Scavenging (automotive)

In automotive usage, scavenging is the process of pushing exhausted gas-charge out of the cylinder and drawing in a fresh draught of air ready for the next cycle....

two-strokes that arrived in the late 1960s. A total of 38,584 of the SGS motorcycles were produced between 1953 and 1970.

Legacy

In the late 1980s, the company was being squeezed out by competition. In 1987, massive restructuring of the company led to the end of the production of two-wheelers in Graz. The company's technical know-how was always better than its marketing and commercial success. The Puch motorcycle company was sold to Piaggio

Piaggio

Piaggio based in Pontedera, Italy encompasses seven brands of scooters, motorcycles and compact commercial vehicles. As the fourth largest producer of scooters and motorcycles in the world, Piaggio produces more than 600,000 vehicles annually, with five research and development centers, more than...

, maker of the Vespa

Vespa

Vespa is an Italian brand of scooter manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian.The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A...

, in 1987 and still produces bikes under the name "Puch".

Steyr-Puch, assembler of four wheel drive

Four Wheel Drive

The Four Wheel Drive Auto Company, more often known as Four Wheel Drive or just FWD, was founded in 1909 in Clintonville, Wisconsin, as the Badger Four-Wheel Drive Auto Company by Otto Zachow and William Besserdich.-History:...

vehicles and parts, still exists next to the Piaggio division.

The so-called "Einserwerk", the first production plant, shut down in the early 2000s. The historical assembly-hall was declared a protected industrial

Industry

Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...

monument

Monument

A monument is a type of structure either explicitly created to commemorate a person or important event or which has become important to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, or simply as an example of historic architecture...

. When Graz became European Capital of Culture

European Capital of Culture

The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by theEuropean Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension....

in 2003, a Puch museum was opened in one of the former assembly halls http://www.graz03.at/.

Puch sold the entire production line of Puch Maxi Plus to Hero Motors

Hero Motors

Hero Motors is a moped and scooter manufacturer based in Delhi, India. It is a part of multinational company Hero Group, which also owns Hero Honda Motors Ltd and Hero Cycles, among others. Hero Motors was started in the 1960s to manufacture 50cc two stroke mopeds but gradually diversified into...

when production ended in Austria. It spawned the Hero Puch that sold extremely well in India from 1988 till end of 2003 when production ended.

External links

Puch homepage
Puch bikes
Johann-Puch-Museum in Graz
My Austro-Daimler Vent Noir II History of Steyr-Daimler-Puch with emphasis on bicycle production, and refurbishment of an AD bicycle
Puch 500 car
Moped Army
Puch N50 Monza Grand Prix Mopeds

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Pre 1919

Between wars

WWII

Post-War years

Puch scooters

Puch mopeds

Puch BMX

Puch Maxi

Puch motorcycle marketed as the "Twingle"

Legacy

See also

External links