The NSU Fox was the first entirely new design motorcycle after World War II. The Fox used a 98cc four stroke engine which was very new, as most motorcycles built before World War II used two stroke engines. Although the engine was a four stroke, NSU made it look very much like a two stroke […]
Frantisek Janecek opened a mechanical shop in Prague that made armaments for European armies. After WWI that business declined and he decided to diversify by building motorcycles in 1929. Wanderer was a motorcycle maker at that time, but eventually ceased production since it was not profitable. Janecek bought Wanderer’s business and made improvements to
After the decline of the armaments industry, in 1929 Czech engineer and inventor František Janeček began producing motorcycles. He purchased the German motorcycle company Wanderer from Winklhofer & Jaenicke and named the new company Jawa Motokov, created by merging the names JAneček and WAnderer. In the 1930s, Janeček began experimenting with smaller, 2-stroke, 250cc and
This Honda scooter is designed so the handle bars and the seat can be folded down so it can be loaded into the back of a car. It was originally designed to fit in the back of the Honda City Turbo, a small hatchback car. As Japan has monumental traffic jams, the theory was one
Honda Motocompo scooter-1984 Read More »
Eysink, the first Dutch car manufacturer, was founded by D.H. (Dick) Eysink in The Netherlands in 1886 as a bicycle manufacturer. Sons Menno and August saw a future in automobiles and motorcycles and directed the company’s efforts accordingly. While Eysink enjoyed the lack of automotive competition in neutral The Netherlands during the First World War,
Eysink Renata Tandem Moped-1956 Read More »
Condor motorcycles began as a bicycle works, Scheffer Freres, (Scheffer Brothers) in the Jura Mountains of southwestern Switzerland in 1891. By 1904, the company was known as Condor, named after the large Andean bird, and enjoyed a brisk business with the Swiss Army and Postal Service. The earliest motorcycles were little more than reinforced
LAWIL was Italy’s primary Microcar made in the 1970s. The LAWIL sold better in France where it was called the Willam. These small cars were powered by a 125cc or 175cc Lambretta scooter motor. This car was popular in France because it could be driven by people who did not have a driver’s license. M.
Willam Fourgonnette-1978 Read More »
The five-door Camping-Limousine seen here is but one of half a dozen body styles made available by the nationalized East German manufacturer. Seen as very much a “German Car” and upscale in comparison to the Trabant, which was the only other option available to the general public in the GDR, the 311 was still a
Wartburg 311/5-1957 Read More »
Kenny Howard, aka Von Dutch, was a motorcycle mechanic, metal fabricator, artist, and, most notably, a ground-breaking pinstriper of hot rods and motorcycles from the 1950s until his passing in 1992. Along with Dean Jeffries and Ed ‘Big Daddy’ Roth, he is considered a founder of the Kustom Kulture movement of the 1960s and ‘70s.
Von Dutch ‘Rocket Car’ -1961 Read More »