Hoffmann was a bicycle

Bicycle

A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....

 manufacturer in Ratingen-Lintorf

Ratingen-Lintorf

Lintorf is a quarter in the northern part of the city Ratingen at the transition of the foreland of the Berg region into the lower Rhine plain. The elevation is 35 m above sea level. Population: 3,671 , 14,954 . Area: 16.85 km² ....

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. Between 1949 and 1954 the company

Company

A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...

 also manufactured motorcycles. It made a range of models using engines from 125cc to 250cc made by ILO, and the Gouverneur, which had a transversely-mounted 248cc flat twin four-stroke engine designed by the brothers Richard and Xaver Küchen

Kuchen

Kuchen , the German word for cake, is used in other languages as the name for several different types of sweet desserts, pastries, and gateaux...

, and shaft drive. The Gouverneur was developed into the MP 250-2 and finally, in 1953, the S 300 model.

Hoffmann also sought a licence from Iso Rivolta

Iso Rivolta

Iso Rivolta was an automobile and motorbike manufacturer in Italy, predominantly active from the late 1940s through the early 1970s. They are known for the iconic Isetta 'bubble car' of the 1950s, and for a number of powerful performance cars in the 60s and early 70s.-History:Iso Rivolta was...

 in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 to produce the Isetta

Isetta

The Isetta is an Italian-designed microcar built in a number of different countries, including Spain, Belgium, France, Brazil, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Produced in the post-World War II years, a time when cheap short-distance transportation was most needed, it became one of the most...

 bubble car

Bubble car

Bubble car is a subjective term used for some small, economical automobiles, usually produced in the 1950s and 1960s.- Varieties :The Messerschmitt KR175 and KR200, and the FMR Tg500, had aircraft-style bubble canopies, giving rise to the term bubble car to refer to all these post-war microcars...

 as the Hoffmann Auto-Kabine 250. BMW

BMW

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...

, Iso's official licence-holder, successfully sued Hoffmann, who had to sell more than 100 Auto-Kabine 250's in 1954-55 for DM 2,900 each.

From 1950 onwards Hoffmann also made between 50,000 and 60,000 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...

 motor scooters

Scooter (motorcycle)

A scooter is a motorcycle with step-through frame and a platform for the operator's feet. Elements of scooter design have been present in some of the earliest motorcycles, and motorcycles identifiable as scooters have been made from 1914 or earlier...

under licence. A licencing dispute brought this to an end in 1954. At the same time Hoffmann also withdrew from making its own motorcycles.