PUCH - Known for Mopeds

Johann Puch (1862 - 1914) was an inventor and mechanic from Austria. He moved to Graz and in 1991 started manufacturing bicycles.  In 1898 he founded and named his company Erste Steiemarkische Fahrrad Fabriks AG , meaning "First Styrian Bicycle Co." Puch bicycles were sold across Europe.

Puch was experimenting with Automobiles and expanded in to Motorcycle in 1901 and cars by 1904. One of the earliest cars was a 1900 Puch Voiturette -

A 1919 Puch Alpenwagen -

During the war, Puch was manufacturing military vehicles and cars for the Austro-Hungarian army and the Royal family. After the war, Puch was not in good financial health and in 1923 bankers had sent one Engineer Giovanni Marcellino to the Puch factory to wind up its operations. Marcellino , instead of winding up the operations , settled down and started work on improving a split-single cylinder, 2-stroke engine design. Marcellino made a very successful  design of this Split-single cylinder engine and went on to win the German grand prix with a supercharged , split-single Puch.

By 1928 , Puch merged with Austro-Daimler and was renamed as Austro-Daimler-Puchwerke.  However , another merger in 1934 with Steyr AG created the Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG as we know today.

Cars, Trucks and motor cycles were continued to be manufactured under Puch and Steyr-Puch names.

One of the famous motorcycle was the Puch 250 SGS fitted with split-single cylinder , 2-stroke engine released in 1953. These motorcycles were exported to USA and sold as "twingle". The SGS 250 production continued till 1970.

Puch also manufactured cars and one the well known small car was the Steyr-Puch 500 of 1957 -

Building on the military vehicle experience of the world wars, Puch was manufacturing many types of military and off-road vehicles . The most famous and the well known vehicle across the world was the Steyr-Puch Pinzguarer . This vehicle was in production from 1970 till the late 90s.

Puch was most famous for its small 2-wheeler range - mopeds. The most famous was the Puch Maxi launched in 1970. Close to 2 million of these units were sold across the world from 1970 onward.

In India , the Puch mopeds were manufactured by Hero Motors as Hero Puch from 1988 till 2003.

In 1987 , the motorcycle division of Steyr-Daimler-Puch was sold to Piaggio.

The Puch and the Steyr-Puch logos -

POPE - The King of Bicycles

Col. Albert Augustus Pope (1843 - 1909) founded the Pope Manufacturing Company in 1878 to manufacture and sell bicycles. His bicycles were branded as Columbia and one of the first bicycle was the Columbia High-wheeler.

Pope was an innovator and was credited with using ball bearings and hollow steel tubes in his bicycles. He bought Pierre Lallement's patent and started manufacturing 'true" bicycles.

In order to control the bicycle market, Pope bought almost all the patents related to bicycles and was manufacturing close to quarter million bicycles by 1900. Apart from that he was earning $10 per bicycle of other manufacturers as royalty.

In 1898 , to further strengthen his hold over the bicycle market , he bought more than 50 independent manufacturers and created the American Bicycle Company. He also acquired the Gormully patent from Thomas B Jeffery of Rambler.

As  gasoline engines were becoming popular, Pope expanded in to Motorcycles also. A 1914 Pope Motorcycle -

Pope began experimenting with Automobiles in 1896 and one of the first venture was with electric vehicles. Many prototypes were made and tested. In 1899 , Pope founded the Columbia Automobile Company along with Electric Vehicle Company to manufacture Electric vehicles under the Columbia brand.  Later in 1899 , due to differences in opinion between the two companies  Pope sold off his stake in Columbia Automobile Company to Electric vehicle Company.

After his exit from Columbia Automobile Company , Pope entered the Automobile business with a series of acquisitions starting 1903. He acquired many Automobile companies under his new company - Pope Automobiles.

Pope - Hartford

Pope - Robinson   (From Robinson Motor Vehicle Company)

Pope - Toledo  

Pope - Tribune

Pope - Waverly  (From Crawford bicycle Company)

Some of the cars of Pope acquisition 

A 1904 Pope - Hartford

A 1902 Pope - Robinson

A 1907 Pope - Toledo

A 1904 Pope - Tribune

A 1905 Pope - Waverly Electric

Due increasing competition and dropping prices , Pope Automobiles could not keep pace and was finally bankrupt and closed in 1915.

The Pope & Columbia Logo -

HUMBER - The British marque

Thomas Humber (1841 - 1910) was a British Engineer interested in improving the bicycle designs of those times. Humber was credited with inventing the safety bicycle  with the pedal driving the rear wheel. Later on, he pioneered same size wheels and diamond-frame design in bicycles.

A Humber Bicycle -

In 1869,  Humber and Company was created to manufacture bicycles. In 1892, Thomas Humber sold off his rights to Henry Lawson of Daimler (England). As a logical step , Humber was experimenting with motorization. In 1896 , they introduced motorized bicycle fitted with Pennigton engine. A 1904 Humber motorcycle -

Humber continued to excel in the motorcycle and motorized tricycles. Parrallely they were experimenting with cars. In 1898 they introduced the first car and followed up with another in 1899 -

This was followed with a car in 1903 , called the Humbrette -

During the war , Humber manufactured aircraft engines and continued to manufacture cars after the war.

In 1928 , Humber acquired Commer and in 1929 they acquired Hillman.  In 1932 , the Rootes group acquired Humber. Rootes group was taken over by Chrysler in 1964 and in 1978 Chrysler(Europe) sold off to Peugeot. After 1976, the Humber marque slowly disappeared.

Some of the famous and well know Humber cars - Humber Pullman and Humber Sceptre.

The Humber logos -

PACKARD - Luxury

James Ward Packard (1863 - 1928) bought a car from Winton and was not satisfied with its operation and approached Alexander Winton with some suggestions to improve the car. Winton rebuked him and told him to build his own car to incorporate all the suggestions.  James Packard along with his brother William Doud Packard(1861 - 1923) built the first car in 1899.

A 1899 Model A Packard-

In 1900, they formed the Ohio Automobile company to manufacture cars. In 1902 , they renamed the company as Packard Motor Car Company.

A 1902 Model F and a 1910 Packard Tourer -

Packard was known for reliability and luxury and sold their cars in the price range of over $2000 when all others were selling cars below $1000 and thus was serving wealthy customers.

Packard was known for new inventions and innovations. Some of major and well know inventions are -

1913 - Introduced spiral bevel gear in the final drive making the cars silent

1923 - Introduced hypoid gears leading to lower floor levels

1940 - Introduced air conditioning

Packard was one of the top automobile manufacturer for long time before losing traction around the 1950s. Some of the well know models out of a large array of models are -

A 1920 Packard Twin and a 1947 Packard Clipper -

In 1954 Packard was acquired by Studebaker corporation and in 1956 the company was renamed as Studebaker-Packard Corporation. By 1962, the Packard badge was dropped and the brand disappeared.

Packard Logo -

LORRAINE - DIETRICH

The history of De Dietrich et Cie can be traced back to 1684 when Jean de Dietrich bought over a forge and came to be known as the "King of iron". De Dietrich expanded in to manufacture of railway carriages after 1800. The Franco-Prussian war of 1870 split their factories between two countries - Luneville(France) and Niederbronn (Germany).

In 1896 , De Dietrich further expanded in to Automobile production. They built their first automobile with the 2-cylinder engine procured from Amedee Bollee, elder brother of Leon Bollee. The 1896 De Dietrich car -

In 1898 , they further refined the design and introduced the "Torpilleur"  with a 4-cylinder engine. The 1898 de Dietrich Torpedo -

By 1899/1900 , De Dietrich had tied up with Vivinus of Belgium to produce cars at their Niederbronn factory  and Turcat-Mery at their Luneville plant , under the De Dietrich badge. A De Dietrich badge Vivinus and Turcat-Mery cars -

In 1902, De Dietrich engaged Ettore Bugatti, a young and award winning engineer, at their Niederbronn factory to design develop new cars. One of the well know car being the type 5 -

In 1904 , Ettore Bugatti left De Dietrich to join Mathis Car Company and, in the  same year , De Dietrich closed their Niederbronn factory and shifted the entire automobile production to Luneville factory. In celebration , the word Lorraine was added to the De Dietrich name and the company name was changed to Lorraine-Dietrich. The Cross of Lorraine was adopted as the logo.

In 1907 , Lorraine-Dietrich acquired the Italian luxury and race care maker  Isotta-Fraschini which in turn brought in technology like four wheel brakes and overhead cam engines.

Lorraine- Dietrich was involved in racing and had won many major automobile races of that time including the Tour de France. A 1915 Lorraine-Dietrich race car -

During the world war I , Lorraine- Dietrich was involved in the manufacture of aircraft engines.

After the war , automobile production was restarted. A 1924 Lorraine-Dietrich -

Automobile business became unprofitable and ultimately closed down in 1935. The Luneville factory was converted to manufacture of railway coaches.

The Lorraine-Dietrich logo -

The logo of Turcat-Mery and Vivinus which were sold under the De Dietrich badge -