Steyr was an Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n automotive company from 1915 until 1990.

Formed as a branch of Steyr Osterreichische Waffenfabriks-Gesellschaft

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:...

(Steyr AG) in 1915, to diversify manufacturing, the founders hired 38-year-old designer Hans Ledwinka

Hans Ledwinka

Hans Ledwinka was an Austrian automobile designer.- Youth :Ledwinka was born was born in Klosterneuburg , near Vienna, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire....

 after he resigned from Nesselsdorfer-Wagenbau. Ledwinka developed Steyr's new six-cylinder car and supervised hiring engineers and mechanics.

This, the 12/40PS, featured the fashionable spitzkuhler (pointed radiator) of the prewar Mercedes

Mercedes (car)

Mercedes was a brand of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft . DMG which began to develop in 1900, after the death of its co-founder, Gottlieb Daimler...

 and had very modern features: a 3255 cc (199ci) engine with SOHC

Overhead camshaft

Overhead cam valvetrain configurations place the engine camshaft within the cylinder heads, above the combustion chambers, and drive the valves or lifters in a more direct manner compared to overhead valves and pushrods...

, ball bearing

Ball bearing

A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races.The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this by using at least two races to contain the balls and transmit...

-mounted crankshaft, four-speed gearbox, and multi-plate clutch

Clutch

A clutch is a mechanical device which provides for the transmission of power from one component to another...

, but not including four wheel brakes, though Ledwinka's designs had used them as early as 1909. 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

Truck

A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...

.

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. Ledwinka did not give up, creating a car with and aircooled flat-twin and backbone chassis. Management ignored him, and he quit to join Tatra

Tatra (car)

Tatra is a vehicle manufacturer in Kopřivnice, Czech Republic. The company was founded in 1850 as Schustala & Company later renamed Nesselsdorfer Wagenbau-Fabriksgesellschaft, a wagon and carriage manufacturer, and in 1897 produced the first motor car in central Europe, the Präsident. In 1918, it...

, taking the design with him; it also inspired the early 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...

 Type 1

Volkswagen Beetle

The Volkswagen Type 1, widely known as the Volkswagen Beetle or Volkswagen Bug, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003...

.

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, four-wheel brakes, half-elliptic

Leaf spring

Originally called laminated or carriage spring, a leaf spring is a simple form of spring, commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles...

 front springs, and swing axle

Swing axle

A swing axle is a simple type of independent suspension first used in early aircraft , such as the Sopwith and Fokker, usually with rubber bungee and no damping....

 IRS

Independent suspension

Independent suspension is a broad term for any automobile suspension system that allows each wheel on the same axle to move vertically independently of each other. This is contrasted with a beam axle, live axle or deDion axle system in which the wheels are linked – movement on one side affects...

. It came in two models, a four- or five-seater tourer

Touring car

A touring car, or tourer, is an open car seating five or more. Touring cars may have two or four doors. Often, the belt line is lowered in the front doors to give the car a more sportive character. They were often fitted with a folding roof and side curtains. Engines on early models were either in...

 at ₤

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

440 and a four-door saloon at ₤560. This was joined by a 3.3 liter Type VII interior drive limousine

Limousine

A limousine is a luxury sedan or saloon car, especially one with a lengthened wheelbase or driven by a chauffeur. The chassis of a limousine may have been extended by the manufacturer or by an independent coachbuilder. These are called "stretch" limousines and are traditionally black or white....

, 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.

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

Servomechanism

thumb|right|200px|Industrial servomotorThe grey/green cylinder is the [[Brush |brush-type]] [[DC motor]]. The black section at the bottom contains the [[Epicyclic gearing|planetary]] [[Reduction drive|reduction gear]], and the black object on top of the motor is the optical [[rotary encoder]] for...

-assisted brakes by Bosch-Dewandre

Robert Bosch GmbH

Robert Bosch GmbH is a multinational engineering and electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. It is the world's largest supplier of automotive components...

.

In January 1929, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche

Ferdinand Porsche

Ferdinand Porsche was an Austrian automotive engineer and honorary Doctor of Engineering. He is best known for creating the first hybrid vehicle , the Volkswagen Beetle, and the Mercedes-Benz SS/SSK, as well as the first of many Porsche automobiles...

 joined Steyr from Mercedes. He quickly produced the 37/100 hp Austria, with a 5.3 liter straight eight, dual magneto

Magneto

A magneto is a type of electrical generator.Magneto may also refer to:* Magneto , permanent magnetic alternating current rotary generator* ignition magneto, magnetos on internal combustion engines...

 ignition, and twin spark plug

Spark plug

A spark plug is an electrical device that fits into the cylinder head of some internal combustion engines and ignites compressed fuels such as aerosol, gasoline, ethanol, and liquefied petroleum gas by means of an electric spark.Spark plugs have an insulated central electrode which is connected by...

s, four-wheel Lockheed

Lockheed Corporation

The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995.-Origins:...

 hydraulic brakes, and Steyr's first detachable cylinder head

Cylinder head

In an internal combustion engine, the cylinder head sits above the cylinders on top of the cylinder block. It closes in the top of the cylinder, forming the combustion chamber. This joint is sealed by a head gasket...

. It also had Steyr's half-elliptic front and swing axle rear suspension. It showed at the Paris Salon

Paris Salon

The Salon , or rarely Paris Salon , beginning in 1725 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. Between 1748–1890 it was the greatest annual or biannual art event in the Western world...

 and Olympia, the cabriolet offered at ₤1550.

The Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 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 Büro in Stuttgart

Stuttgart

Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....

. The crash hit hard. Steyr in 1929 produced short of 5000 cars and 1000 trucks in all, and in 1930, just twelve.

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. It was developed into the 2.3 liter 530 of 1936. 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.

There were also licence-built Opel

Opel

Adam Opel AG, generally shortened to Opel, is a German automobile company founded by Adam Opel in 1862. Opel has been building automobiles since 1899, and became an Aktiengesellschaft in 1929...

 P4s (Steyr-Opel, nicknamend "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

Steyr 50

The Steyr 50 is a small car released in 1936 by the Austrian automobile manufacturer Steyr. The streamlined body was approved by Director Karl Jenschke to be constructed in 1935, but in that same year Jenschke relocated to the German Adlerwerke in Frankfurt/Main.The car had a water-cooled...

in 1936 was smaller and "surpassingly ugly" (which was a lot to surpass in that era), the child of a Chrysler Airflow

Chrysler Airflow

The Chrysler Airflow is an automobile produced by the Chrysler Corporation from 1934-1937. The Airflow was the first full-size American production car to use streamlining as a basis for building a sleeker automobile, one less susceptible to air resistance...

, and as aerodynamically efficient as the contemporary VW; even so, the Kleinwagen was popular (as its Type 1 cousin would be a generation later), due to a rather roomy interior and a metal sliding roof. The bigger 1158 cc (71ci) 25 hp engine and new number, Type 55

Steyr 50

The Steyr 50 is a small car released in 1936 by the Austrian automobile manufacturer Steyr. The streamlined body was approved by Director Karl Jenschke to be constructed in 1935, but in that same year Jenschke relocated to the German Adlerwerke in Frankfurt/Main.The car had a water-cooled...

, 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.

During the war, Steyr built vehicles for the Wehrmacht

Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

, and afterwards, modified 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...

s for Austrian consumption, adding swing axles and, in some models, engines of their own design. These were the 1100 Mod E, followed by the 1400, which got an Austrian 2-liter engine, and was namend Steyr 2000. From 1957 to 1973 the Puch 500 was built in the 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...

 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 some few FIAT 126 were equipped with the boxer twin engine for the Austrian market.

In the 1960s, Steyr introduced the remarkable Haflinger (named for a Tyrolian horse) 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:...

 truck, "probably the most versatile off-road vehicle ever produced." Able to cross almost any terrain and scale mountains, they typically had only a two-cylinder aircooled boxer 643 cc (39ci) engine of 20 kW (27 hp). The performance attracted military orders, and led to the much heavier and stronger 4x4/6x6 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...

. Finally Steyr-Daimler-Puch collaborated with Mercedes

Daimler-Benz

Daimler-Benz AG was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and internal combustion engines; founded in 1926. An Agreement of Mutual Interest - which was valid until year 2000 - was signed on 1 May 1924 between Karl Benz's Benz & Cie., and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, which had...

 in the design and manufacturing of the similar, but more comfortable, Puch G

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...

.

Sources

• 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 3705901028 ISBN 978-3705901025