Steyr automobile

Steyr (or Steyr-Puch) was an Austrian automotive company from 1915 until 1990.


Swedish Ad for 1928 Steyr Type Xll 6cyl 4seat Convertible

Formed as a branch of Steyr Osterreichische Waffenfabriks-Gesellschaft (Steyr AG) in 1915, to diversify manufacturing, the founders hired 38-year-old designer Hans Ledwinka after he resigned from Nesseldorf. Ledwinka developed Steyr's new six-cylinder car and supervised hiring engineers and mechanics.


1939 Steyr 220.

This, the 12/40PS, featured the fashionable spitzkuhler (pointed radiator) of the prewar Mercedes and had very modern features: a 3255 cc (199ci) engine with SOHC, ball bearing-mounted crankshaft, four-speed gearbox, and multi-plate clutch, 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.

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, taking the design with him; 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, four-wheel brakes, half-elliptic front springs, and swing axle IRS. It came in two models, a four- or five-seater tourer at ₤440 and a four-door saloon at ₤560. 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.

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.

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 brakes, and Steyr's first detachable cylinder head. It also had Steyr's half-elliptic front and swing axle rear suspension. It showed at the Paris Salon and Olympia, the cabriolet offered at ₤1550.

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 Büro in Stuttgart. The crash hit hard. Steyr in 1929produced 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.


Haflinger

There were also licence-built Opel 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 in 1936 was smaller and "surpassingly ugly" (which was a lot to surpass in that era), the child of a Chrysler Airflow, 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 (19 kW) 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.

During the war, Steyr built vehicles for the Wehrmacht, and afterwards, modified FIATs 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 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 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. Finally Steyr-Daimler-Puch collaborated with Mercedes in the design and manufacturing of the similar, but more comfortable, Puch G.

Do Tou Remember The LLoyd Cars?

Source: LLotd Automobiles

Hupmobile

Hupmobile Nameplate


1929 Hupmobile

The car in the foreground, on the back of a $10 bill is a 1925 Hupmobile.

The Hupmobile was an automobile built from 1909 through 1940 by the Hupp Motor Company of Detroit, Michigan, which was located at 345 Bellevue Avenue. Their first car, the Model 20, was introduced to the public at the Detroit Auto Show in February 1909. The company initially produced 500 vehicles.

History

Robert Craig Hupp (June 2, 1877 in Grand Rapids, Michigan – 1931), a former employee of Oldsmobile and Ford founded the company with his brother Louis Gorham Hupp (November 13,1872 in Michigan – December 10, 1961 in Michigan) in 1908. Production began in 1909. In 1910, production increased by more than 5000. Following disagreements with his financial backers Hupp sold his stock in the Hupp Motor Car Company and established the short-lived RCH Automobile Company, later the Hupp-Yeats Electric Car Company.


Hupmobile Model 32 Touring 1913

Hupp Motor Company, however, continued to grow after its founder had left. A new plant was purchased in 1924 as Hupp competed strongly against Ford and Chevrolet and by 1928 sales had reached over 65,000 units. To increase production and handle the growth in sales, Hupp purchased the Chandler-Cleveland Motors Corporation (Chandler Motor Car) for its manufacturing facilities. Hupp advertising began to take cues from the romantic Ned Jordan style of automotive prose. A 1930 Hupmobile advertisement read.


Hupmobile RRS Special Roadster 1924

"A Hupmobile becomes a little more than just a car. He'll lift the hood as a veteran would, and show Hupp's mechanical fineness. He knows! He's driven Hupmobile since the old outdated out-of-context but still-revered early Hupmobiles with the tall steel spout on its radiator. There's something about Hupp's faithfulness that gets to a man. A feeling that hasn't a name. But it's the same as the feeling a seaman gets for his ship, an engineer for his engine, or a woman for her home. He's got as much use for an adjective as a cowboy for a powder puff. He's rough on claims. Promises of what a car can do. He's the old-time Hupmobile owner. He's seen cars come, seen 'em go. Only he won't talk. He'll act! Give you fact after fact, not in words but in deeds, in bullet speeds and 'Big Bertha' power."


Hupmobile Touring 1924

Sales and production began to fall even before the onset of the depression in 1930. A strategy to make the Hupmobile a larger, more expensive car began with the 1925 introduction of an 8-cylinder model, followed by the discontinuance of the traditional 4-cylinder Hupmobile. While aiming for a seemingly more lucrative market segment, Hupp essentially turned its back on its established clientele. Nevertheless, in a constant effort to remain competitive, Hupp introduced a number of new features. They were one of the very first automakers to equip their cars with "free wheeling," a device that enjoyed immense, but brief, popularity in the early 1930s. Unfortunately, the company made the same mistake that many other medium-priced carmakers were making at the same time. Namely, in an attempt to capture every possible sale, they offered many different models. With Hupmobile's relatively low production volume, the result was that no model could be produced in sufficient quantity to keep manufacturing costs low enough to provide an operating profit. Hupp abandoned its more conservatively styled product line and turned to industrial designer Raymond Loewy to design its 1932 Hupp cyclefender, a flashy roadster which did well at the track, but sales continued to decline. 1934 saw the introduction of a striking restyle called the "Aerodynamic" by Loewy, as well as the lower-priced series 417-W using Murray-built slightly-modified Ford bodies.


Hupmobile Series M De Luxe Century Opera Coupe 1929

Despite these innovations, squabbles among stockholders and an attempted hostile takeover in 1935 took their toll on the company. By 1936 the company was forced to sell some of its plants and assets and in 1937 Hupmobile suspended manufacturing. A new line of six- and eight-cylinder cars was fielded for 1938, but by this time Hupp had very few dealers, and sales were disappointingly low.


Hupmobile Series M De Luxe Century 4-Door Sedan 1929

Desperate for a return to market strength, Hupmobile acquired the production dies of the Gordon Buehrig designed Cord 810/812 from the defunct Cord Automobile Company in 1938. Hupmobile hoped that utilizing the striking Cord design in a lower-priced conventional car, called the Skylark, would return the company to financial health. Enthusiastic orders came in by the thousands, but production delays soured customer support.


Hupmobile 4-Door Sedan 1932

Lacking adequate production facilities, Hupmobile worked out a deal with the ailing Graham-Paige Motor Co. to share the Cord dies, which would be built at Graham's facilities. The Graham edition, called the Hollywood, differed from the Skylark in only a few minor details.


Hupmobile Series 417-W 4-Door Sedan 1934

Final production

In 1939 the Hupmobile Skylark finally began delivery. Unfortunately, it had taken too many years to produce and most of the orders had been canceled. Production lasted only a couple of months, and only 319 Skylarks were produced. Hupmobile ceased production in late summer. Graham-Paige suspended production shortly after the last Hupmobile rolled off the line. The Skylark's grille later inspired the grilles used on Lincoln Continental models in the 1940's.

The last preserved Hupmobile dealership in the United States is located in Omaha, Nebraska.

Reference in Hollywood movies

In the Billy Wilder's movie Some Like It Hot Hupmobile is mentioned several times. When Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon witness a gangland slaying like the St. Valentine's Day Massacre it is in a garage to get a Hupmobile borrowed from one of Curtis's girlfriends. Later, when telling a fictional story to Marilyn Monroe while pretending to be a sexually frustrated millionaire, Curtis says his problems began when his fiance, the daughter of the President of Hupmobile, got killed in an accident at the Grand Canyon.

In the TV series Leave It To Beaver, Ward Cleaver (Hugh Beaumont) would on occasion wistfully recall his family's Hupmobile.

Hupmobile production models

For specifications on various Hupmobile models:

Hupmobile Club Sedan - R

Hupmobile Touring - E

External links:

Hupmobile Building

Hupmobile Welcomed at UniversalCity

Hupmobile at UniversalCity

Motorbase "Hupmobile"

"Skylark/Hollywood"

The Hupmobile Club

'47 International Harvester Coe Car Hauler

Beautiful One of a kind. Only 8,500 miles! 454 motor. Three Speed 400 turbo Hydra-matic Transmission. . "178" wheelbase. Dual Rear axle with dual tires on both. Air Ride Suspension with auto compressor. Power windows, steering, brakes. 6 way power seat. Digital heat, air, CB Radio. Absolutely beautiful

Source: Hotrod Hotline

'54 Plymouth Wagon , V8

Arizona car, in Michigan & Florida for the last 4. years. Always garaged. 2 door, Suburban model.
Gets over 20 mpg on highway at 75-80 mph on Regular gas...It will, however, go MUCH faster.

•Engine 1996 Dodge 360ci. efi,
•4 speed automatic overdrive transmission
•B&M shifter
•Lokar gas pedal
•Power steering
•Power brakes - Disc front, Drum rear
•8" Ford rear end
•3.00 gear ratio
•Mustang II front suspension with sway bar
•ididit tilt steering column with Lacarra wheel
•am/fm CD stereo
•Coker wide whites
•Aluminum radiator and overflow tank.
•Body is very straight and about 1/2 the paint is original
•Re-chromed, bumpers & headlight rings.
•Carpet Replaced 3 - 4 years ago
•62,500 Mileage showing
•VIN # 25164819
•We believe it is San Gabriel Green with Shasta Green around windows
This is a very rare car... when the licensed appraiser was over to appraise our cars, he was impressed with the condition and all the upgrades and appraised the car for $32,000.00. We did some research and found a production figure of only 450 Vehicles listed in the box for the 1954 2 door Plymouth Suburban

It appears that this car was one of 12,377 Plymouth Plaza, Savoy and Belvedere vehicles produced in Los Angeles

Source: Hotrod Hotline

1948 International Harvester

Red Arrow Harvester

The End?

By John Gilbert
Photography by Ken Lorek





From the sunset coast of southwest Michigan, Ken Lorek spotted what he thinks is a '48 International Harvester. "It was in plain sight along the Red Arrow highway between Hartford and Lawrence in Van Buren county about 10 miles from where I grew up." Ken went on to tell us southwest Michigan is the state's fruit belt and when these old produce haulers broke down they parked them in their tracks. The license plate is from 1967.

Source: Custom Classic Trucks

Ride in the Stout Scarab