KMII
[Montblanc Moderator]
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Made in Austria
Lacking a large domestic market, or the import tariffs that would make local production lucrative in the past, Austria has never been a powerhouse of the Automotive landscape like some of its neighbours. Still there have been successful entries, from the Austro Daimlers of the early days to the KTM X-Bow of today. Some, like the Mercedes G (in its Steyr Daimler Puch guise) better known internationally, others, like the Steyr Puch 650 - as seen below - less so. The series of licence agreements with Fiat was going strong for a while and there were race versions (Abarth was Austrian, too - if I recall correctly), I managed to bag a relatively well maintained but fairly standard road version the other day. Certainly makes for a more pleasant commute
Made in Austria
Lacking a large domestic market, or the import tariffs that would make local production lucrative in the past, Austria has never been a powerhouse of the Automotive landscape like some of its neighbours. Still there have been successful entries, from the ...
A rarity today ...
... since Puch versions have disappeared almost completely. Today, it is even next to impossible to get a Puch logo for a Mercedes G. love your discovery! Marcus
Have spoken to a colleague...
Who frequents the oldtimer scene and what I took pictures of turns out to be the TR - a sporty version with sth like 22bhp. There was an even hotter TR2 one, which could be tuned up to 50bhp for international racing but these are extremely rare these days...
Nice little thing!
A Puch should not be underestimated! They can be real giant killers on mountain roads! Actually the chassis is quite different from the Fiat 500, as far as I know.
Was not aware of the chassis differences...
Apparently they were quite successful in the under 750cc race categories, so your comment is spot on
I thought...
...the body and suspension was nearly pure FIAT. The engines for the Puch was different to the FIAT twin, but what other changes did Puch do? I don't know much (anything) about what Puch did with the suspension/chassis. Mountain roads? In a 650cc? Must be...
There were others...
Like the Zastava 750 and 850. But the Steyr models were the only Germanic ones