AUSTRO-DAIMLER Wiener Neustadt, Austria, 1899-1936


This company was founded in 1899 as the Austrian branch of the German DAIMLER for the production of trucks. The first technical director was Paul Daimler, the son of the famous Gottlieb Daimler. On his initiative, AUSTRO-DAIMLER began production of passenger cars of the model “PD" with a two-cylinder engine with a displacement of 1,411 cm3.
In 1905, Paul Daimler replaced the 30-year-old Ferdinand Porsche, whose name is today the world-famous company. Almost a century ago, Porsche started as a designer at a small Austrian company, Lohner, where he created unusual cars with a hybrid power plant: a gasoline engine rotated a generator that generated current to power electric motors built into the hubs of wheels. Turning to AUSTRO-DAIMLER, Porsche tried and there to produce a similar car under the brand name Mixer.
In 1906, the Austrian DAIMLER received financial independence from the German DAIMLER and under the leadership of Ferdinand Porsche built a lot of great cars. The first major success came in 1910 with the model Princz Heinrich, equipped with an upper valve engine of 5715 cm3, followed by the model “35/60” with a 60-hp 7-liter engine. Shortly before the war, the smallest AUSTRO-DAIMLER with a 4-cylinder engine of 2212 cm3 appeared.
In 1923, Kai Rabe replaced the Porsche in his post. All subsequent years he devoted to the improvement of the ADM series cars developed by Porsche. They were 6-cylinder engines with overhead camshaft displacement of 2540; 2650 and 2994 cm3. The latest ADM-3 was a powerful 100-strong sports car that dominated many competitions. She was replaced by a model ADR with a frame in the form of a central tube and rear independent suspension.
In 1929, the most high-speed and prestigious model ADR-6 Bergmeister was released with a 6-cylinder engine in 3614 cm3 With a capacity of 120 hp, which developed a speed of 145 km / h. A year later, a top-class car ADR-8 Alpine with a motor of 4624 cm3 appeared. We managed to make only 50 copies of Alpine.
After the economic crisis, the position of AUSTRO-DAIMLER began to deteriorate. He did not have the mass and cheap model that the impoverished market needed. In 1934, AUSTRO-DAIMLER tried to merge with two other Austrian automobile companies Steyr and Puch. In 1936, AUSTRO-DAIMLER ceased operations.

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