Siegfried Bettman co-founded Triumph bicycles in Coventry, England in 1886. He returned to his native Germany 10 years later to start a Triumph factory in […]
Gritzner
Gritzner can trace its beginnings to 1872, when they joined a large number of manufacturers jumping into the production of sewing machines. They followed a […]
BMW 2002 Touring
In the late 1960s, small “estate” cars were emerging as practical transportation with good carrying capacity. Most were hatchbacks like the Austin 1100, the Peugeot […]
Das Motorrad Vintage Ride
What kind of a crazy gathering has both a 1958 BMW R60 and a Ducati 1198 Panigale lining up to start? What kind of eclectic […]
Porsche 908/01
For 1968, the FIA’s Commission Sportive Internationale which determined rules for sports car racing outlawed the big 7 liter engines popularized by Ford, and introduced […]
Scarce Machines #7
I will offer these without any info. Enter the countries of origin in the comments. Correct answers will be in a drawing to win a […]
NSU Konsul
In 1950s postwar Germany, NSU was well known for its motorcycles. In fact, it was the largest producer of motorcycles in the world. The NSU […]
Briefly Brutsch
The postwar need for cheap reliable transportation caused a number of entrepreneurs to try their hand at producing automobiles. This was one of the most […]
Delius
Gottfried Delius was the man behind the production of small motorcycles and scooters from 1949 to 1953. The company was based in Osnabruck, and was […]
A Mercedes Victory In Germany
The Formula One German Grand Prix is set to take place on July 20, 2014. For the first time in decades, a Mercedes is a […]
The Faith of Fath
History is littered with smart people who thought they could do it better than the large manufacturers, who would not compromise on their ideas when […]
Maintaining Tempo
Vidal and Sohn was founded in 1883 to provide fire-fighting services to the harbor where coal was the big mover. Following the decline of the […]
Rixe
The Bielefeld region of Germany was a rich source of manufacturers. In the early 1900s it included typewriters, sewing machines, bicycles, and motorcycles (see Meister, […]
Plight of the Condor
In the 1975 movie Three Days of the Condor by Sydney Pollack, a CIA operative must piece together parts of a puzzle in order to […]
Opel Ascona 400
One of the phenomena that continues to amaze, is how good an otherwise plain (or even ugly) car can look in race trim. Few people […]
Remembering Meister
Bielefeld has a rich history of two wheeled production. Both Goricke and Durkopp had roots there, and many bicycle manufacturers did as well. Meister began […]
Against All Odds
The following are excerpts from Kevin Cameron’s article King of the Boomers, which appeared in Cycle magazine in 1979. It was sent to me by […]
BMW R27
For a company that is most famous for producing a boxer twin since 1923, BMW has produced a surprising number of other engine formats. Most […]
The Heckflosse Champion
Many fans of vintage German cars will be aware of the success of the 300SLR in the immediate postwar era. They will probably also be […]
On the Trail of the Panther
Panther is one of those brands that seem to have been used by a motorcycle manufacturer on almost every continent. England, France, Indonesia, Argentina, etc. […]