1926 Steyr VII
Steyr
was an
Austrian
automotive brand, established in 1915 as a branch of the
Osterreichische Waffenfabriks-Gesellschaft
(OWG) weapon manufacturing company. Renamed
Steyr-Werke AG
in 1926 and merged with
Austro-Daimler
and
Puch
into
Steyr-Daimler-Puch
AG, it continued manufacturing Steyr automobiles until 1959.
History
[
edit
]
The OWG stock company was founded in 1864 at
Steyr
in
Upper Austria
; in 1894 it had already issued a licence from the British
Swift Company
to manufacture
bicycles
under the trade-mark name
Waffenrad
. In order to further to diversify manufacturing, the members of the executive board resolved upon fabricating Steyr
automobiles
and
tractors
. They hired 38-year-old designer
Hans Ledwinka
after he resigned from
Nesselsdorfer-Wagenbau
.
[1]
Ledwinka developed Steyr's new six-cylinder car and supervised hiring engineers and mechanics.
This, the
12/40
PS
, featured the fashionable
spitzkuhler
(pointed radiator) of the prewar
Mercedes
and had very modern features: a 3255 cc (199ci) engine with
SOHC
,
[2]
ball bearing
-mounted crankshaft,
[3]
four-speed
gearbox
, and multi-plate
clutch
, but not including four-wheel brakes, though Ledwinka's designs had used them as early as 1909.
[2]
The ability of the engine to rev led to 4014 cc (245ci)
Type VI
and 4890 cc (298ci)
Type VI Klausen
sport versions, and it was employed in a 2½ ton
truck
.
[3]
Ledwinka again came into conflict with management when the company wanted luxury cars and he preferred a cheap, simple car, the
sidevalve
four-cylinder
Type IV
. Steyr concentrated on luxury cars.
[3]
Ledwinka did not give up, creating a car with an
air-cooled
flat-twin
and backbone chassis. Management ignored him, and he quit to join
Tatra
, taking the design with him;
[3]
it also inspired the early
Volkswagen
Type 1
.
Steyr realized their mistake too late, but Ledwinka acted as consulting engineer, influencing the 1925
Type XII
, with a 14/35 hp 1.5-liter OHC six, crankshaft ball bearings,
[3]
four-wheel brakes,
half-elliptic
front springs, and
swing axle
IRS
.
[3]
It came in two models, a four- or five-seater
tourer
at
£
440 and a four-door
saloon
at £560.
[4]
This was joined by a 3.3-liter
Type VII
interior drive
limousine
, a luxurious four-door that seated up to seven and cost £1000; it shared its 17.75 kW (23.8 hp) chassis with the five- to seven-place, £975
Coupe de Ville
.
[4]
Steyr-Werke
[
edit
]
Swedish Ad for 1928 Steyr Type Xll 6cyl 4seat Convertible
The 1926
Olympia Motor Show
premiered a new 10 kW (14 hp) tourer for £510. There was also another new small car in 1928, the 2060 cc (126ci) 16/40 hp
Type XX
and a 4-liter 29/70 hp six
Type XVI
, with vacuum
servo
-assisted brakes by
Bosch-Dewandre
.
[4]
In January 1929, Dr.
Ferdinand Porsche
joined Steyr from Mercedes. He quickly produced the
37/100 hp Austria
, with a 5.3-liter
straight eight
, dual
magneto ignition
, and twin
spark plugs
, four-wheel
Lockheed
hydraulic
servo-operated brakes, and Steyr's first detachable
cylinder head
. It also had Steyr's half-elliptic front suspension, independent rear suspension through transverse sprung swing axles and wire spoke wheels with quickly detachable racing type hubs.
[5]
It was shown at the
Paris Salon
and
Olympia
, the
cabriolet
offered at £1550.
[4]
The
Great Depression
intervened, however, and Steyr was bailed out by
Austro Daimler
, which killed the project as competing with its own very similar car, while Porsche resigned to form
Porsche Buro
in
Stuttgart
. The crash hit hard. Steyr in 1929 produced short of 5000 cars and 1000 trucks in all, and in 1930, just twelve.
[4]
Aid turned to buyout in 1935, and in the interim Steyr relied on a Porsche design, the
Type XXX
. Its 2078 cc (127ci) six had plain bearings and pushrod valves.
[4]
It was developed into the 2.3-liter
530
of 1936.
[6]
Steyr also displayed the unconventional, with the
120
of 1934, with double transverse-leaf independent front suspension and streamlined body; they sold 1200 cars of this model, and improved it into the 2.3-liter
220
of 1937.
1939 Steyr 220
There were also licence-built
Opel
P4s (Steyr-Opel, nicknamed "Stopel") and, still in 1934, the
Type 100
, a less attractive, low-cost economy car, of exactly the type (if not the appearance) Ledwinka had advocated ten years before, with a 1.4-liter sidevalve four of 34 hp, but similar streamlined appearance as the 120. The
Type 50
in 1936 was smaller and "surpassingly ugly"
[6]
(which was a lot to surpass in that era), the child of a
Chrysler Airflow
,
[6]
and as aerodynamically efficient as the contemporary VW;
[7]
even so, the
Kleinwagen
was popular (as its Type 1 cousin
[8]
would be a generation later), due to a rather roomy interior and a metal sliding roof. The bigger 1158 cc (71ci) 25 hp (19 kW)
[9]
engine and new number,
Type 55
, of 1938 could still hardly push it past 80 km/h (50 mph), but even so, some 13,000 were built by end of production in 1940.
[6]
World War II and beyond
[
edit
]
During the war, Steyr-Daimler-Puch built vehicles like the
Raupenschlepper, Ost
for the German
Wehrmacht
armed forces, and afterwards, modified
Fiat
automobiles for Austrian consumption, adding swing axles and, in some models, engines of their own design.
[6]
These were the "Steyr-Fiat"
1100
Mod E, followed by the
1400
, which from 1953 got an Austrian 2-liter engine, and was named
Steyr 2000
. The production of Steyr automobiles was finally terminated in 1959, when it was replaced by the
Fiat 1800/2100
six-cylinder models.
From 1957 to 1973 the
Puch 500
was built in the
Graz
plant with great success (almost 60,000 sold), using the
Fiat 500
body but Steyr mechanics (to varying degrees - but always with the Austrian opposed twin engine); important versions were the 650 TR sports model and the 700 C microvan. From 1973 to 1975 some few
Fiat 126
were equipped with the boxer twin engine for the Austrian market.
Haflinger
Steyr-Daimler-Puch continued manufacturing utility vehicles, introducing the remarkable
Haflinger
(named for a
Tyrolian horse
)
four-wheel drive
truck in 1959, "probably the most versatile off-road vehicle ever produced."
[6]
Able to cross almost any terrain and scale mountains, they typically had only a two-cylinder air-cooled boxer 643 cc (39ci) engine of 20 kW (27 hp).
[6]
The performance attracted military orders, and led to the much heavier and stronger 4x4/6x6
Pinzgauer
.
[6]
From 1972 Steyr-Daimler-Puch collaborated with
Mercedes
in the design and manufacturing of the more comfortable,
Puch G
version of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, built by
Magna Steyr
up to today.
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Wise, David Burgess. "Steyr-Puch: The Legacy of the Ledwinkas", in Ward, Ian, executive editor.
World of Automobiles
(London: Orbis, 1974), Volume 19, p.2193.
- ^
a
b
Wise, p.2193.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Wise, p.2194.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Wise, p.2195.
- ^
K. B. Hopfinger (1956).
Beyond Expectation
. London: G. T. Foulis & Co. Ltd.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Wise, p.2196.
- ^
Wise, p.2195 photo.
- ^
It rather resembles the Type 1. Photo, p.2195.
- ^
Wise, p.2195 caption.
Sources
[
edit
]
- Wise, David Burgess. "Steyr-Puch: The Legacy of the Ledwinkas", in Ward, Ian, executive editor.
World of Automobiles
(London: Orbis, 1974), Volume 19, p. 2193-6.
- Rauscher, Karl-Heinz und Knogler, Franz: Das Steyr-Baby und seine Verwandten, Weishaupt Verlag, A-8342 Gnas, 1. Auflage (2002),
ISBN
3-7059-0102-8
ISBN
978-3705901025