ag & co kg type public industry vehicle founded 1899 headquarters graz austria key people johann puch founder products automobiles bicycles motorcycles mopeds revenue part of magna steyr number of employees 1 100 1912 website puch bikes.com puch german pronunciation p listen is a manufacturing company located in graz austria . the company was founded in 1899 by the industrialist johann puch and produced automobiles bicycles mopeds and motorcycles . it was a subsidiary of the large steyr daimler puch conglomerate . contents 1 history 1.1 foundation 1.2 between wars 1.3 wwii 1.4 post war years 2 vehicles 2.1 puch scooters 2.2 puch mopeds 2.3 puch bmx 2.4 puch maxi 2.5 puch motorcycle marketed as the twingle 2.6 puch 500 3 legacy 4 see also 5 notes 6 external links history edit foundation edit johann puch in the 1890s from 1889 johann puch 1862 1914 worked as an agent for humber vehicles and manufacturer of styria safety bicycles in a small workshop in graz and in 1891 he founded his first company johann puch & comp . employing 34 workers . cyclists like josef fischer winning the first edition of paris roubaix in 1896 popularized styria bicycles which were even exported to england and france . by 1895 puch already employed more than 300 workers producing about 6000 bikes a year . in 1897 puch left the company after a dispute with his business partners . two years later he founded the erste steierm rkische fahrradfabrik ag en first styrian bicycle factory ag in graz . puch s company became successful through innovation and quality handicraft rapidly expanding over time . it soon began producing motorcycles and mopeds . the main production plant later called einser werk was constructed in the south of graz in the district of puntigam . production of engines was started in 1901 and cars followed in 1904 . in 1906 the production of the two cylinder puch voiturette began and in 1909 a puch car broke the world high speed record with 130 4 km h. in 1910 puch is known to have produced sedans for members of the habsburg imperial family . in 1912 johann puch went into retirement and became the company s honorary president . in that year the company employed about 1 100 workers and produced 16 000 bicycles and over 300 motorcycles and cars annually . puch automobiles were successful at the pre war sterreichische alpenfahrt rally and from 1913 the four cylinder 38 ps horsepower type viii alpenwagen was manufactured in graz . during world war i puch became an important vehicle supplier to the austro hungarian army . between wars edit puch xii alpenwagen in sweden 1924 25 puch 250 r built 1935 motorcycle puch 500 vl with sidecar felber built 1937 with the collapse of the austro hungarian empire following the war the market for automobiles shrank and production was discontinued . however again in 1919 the new type xii alpenwagen was developed . in 1923 the italian engineer and fiat agent giovanni marcellino is said to have been sent by the banks to wind up the puch factory in graz . instead of which within a few weeks he had settled down to live in the town designing and then producing a new version of the split single . taking his inspiration from industrial counter piston engines the new engine benefited from the improved breathing of the italian original to which he added asymmetric port timing . 1 in 1931 puch won the german grand prix with a supercharged split single though in subsequent years the split singles of dkw did better . 2 in 1928 the company merged with austro daimler into the new austro daimler puchwerke . this company in its turn merged in 1934 with steyr werke ag to form the steyr daimler puch conglomerate . wwii edit like all enterprises of its kind the puch production plants had to change to arms production during world war ii . the existing capacity was insufficient therefore a second plant was constructed and opened in 1941 in thondorf graz . in the three original assembly halls luxury vehicles for the american market were produced . steyr daimler puch is one of the companies known to have benefited from slave labor housed in the mauthausen gusen concentration camp system during world war ii . slaves from the camp who had initially been worked to death in quarries started to be used in a highly profitable system used by 45 engineering and war effort companies and amongst them puch had an underground factory built at gusen in 1943 . post war years edit steyr puch pinzgauer high mobility all terrain vehicle 1970 1999 during the period immediately after the war late 1945 to 1947 the factory was requisitioned and run by the british army r.e.m.e. who used the facilities and what remained of the workforce for the repairing and servicing of british and american military vehicles . in 1949 an assembly cooperation agreement was signed with fiat in turin . the 1950s to the mid 1970s saw a sharp increase in production of motorcycles bicycles and mopeds . even though puch was a part of steyr daimler puch it still manufactured products under its own name as well as for steyr puch and other companies . puch gave up racing in the 1950s and split single production ended around 1970 . 1953 puch launched two new motorcycles the 125 and 175 sv . 1954 the very successful ms 50 moped was launched . 1957 the legendary puch 500 small car came on the market . 1958 production of the steyr puch haflingers started . 16 657 vehicles are produced in total and exported into 110 countries . 1966 sobies aw zasada wins the european rally championship on a 650 tr ii . 1969 the most successful puch product is launched puch maxi moped 1.8 million of which are built . 1970 the cross country steyr puch vehicle pinzgauer was launched production continued until 1999 with over 24 000 built . 1973 production of the fiat 126 with a puch engine commenced . 1975 harry everts wins the 1975 250 cc motocross world championship for puch . 1978 record setting year seeing the production of over 270 000 mopeds and motorcycles as well as 350 000 bicycles . 1979 a joint venture with mercedes benz saw puch building the mercedes benz g class in graz . 1981 puch has speed unlimited of wayne nj manufacture a bmx line called the puch trak pro . 1983 a joint venture with volkswagen saw the volkswagen type 2 t3 s engine being built in graz . 1983 a joint venture with fiat where puch designed and built the four wheel drive mechanics for the fiat panda 4x4 mk1 . vehicles edit puch scooters edit the late 1950s saw strong sales of the puch 125cc two stroke single motorscooters which had three gears shifted from the left twistgrip . these machines developed a reputation for reliability and were popular for daily commuting providing good weather protection and ease of use . in this role their moderate performance with a top speed of around 45 mph was not a problem . later models had a 150cc engine and foot operation giving better performance of 6 hp instead of 5 hp but retaining the three gears . puch mopeds edit puch ms50 moped puch produced the puch maxi puch newport and mk mopeds which were popular from the late 1970s to early 1980s . in austria and the netherlands puch mopeds played a big role in the 1960s popular culture . citation needed puch mopeds in sweden were and still are very popular despite the company ceasing production of mopeds in 1985 . they were all named after us states except the maxi and the monza . some of the more popular models were vs50 50 cc 2 speed gearbox the dakota vz 50 50 cc fan cooled 3 speed gearbox . in fact the most popular by far . citation needed the florida mv 50 50 cc fan cooled 3 speed gearbox the alabama ds 50 50 cc fan cooled 3 or 4 speed gearbox the oldest mopeds often had a 50 cc fan cooled engine with a 1 or 2 speeded gearbox cric crac clarification needed and newer mopeds had many different always 50cc engines such as fan cooled 3 speed dakota dakota 3000 nevada fan cooled 4 speed mexico air cooled 3 speed arizona monza m50 montana monza 3c air cooled 4 speed monza 4speed puch bmx edit puch began making bmx bikes as early as the 1970s . many different models appeared including the challenger invader and trak pro . in 1981 they worked with speed unlimited in wayne new jersey to manufacture a line of high end bmx race bikes . speed unlimited also made bikes for hutch and their own brand thruster . the model they made for puch was the trak pro . in 1981 puch also began sponsoring bmx racers across the united states . the green black and white uniform was soon showing up at bmx tracks across america especially in the northeast . there is a collection of puchs at the bmx museum puch collection . 3 puch maxi edit main article puch maxi puch maxi s mofa the maxi is one of puch s most well known machines along with the magnum and newport models . the puch maxi is a moped fitted with a single cylinder 50cc two stroke engine . the engine produced around 2 hp and could propel the rider at speeds of 28 mph 48 km h . it was started using the pedals which could be engaged and disengaged from the engine via a starting lever so it could be ridden as a normal bicycle . later models did not have pedals and instead were started with a kick start mechanism . puch motorcycle marketed as the twingle edit main article puch 250 sgs puch motorcycle 250 sgs puch is remembered in the us for importing the sgs 250 the first and last split single seen there . marketed by sears in their catalogue as the twingle 4 it was styled much like a bmw of the 1950s and 60s . the layout had been popular in europe between the wars because it improved scavenging and hence fuel consumption a feature considered less important in the us . new models after world war ii had an internal re arrangement which improved piston lubrication reducing wear on the most vulnerable part of the engine while an early system of pumping the two stroke oil along with the twin spark plug ignition greatly improved day to day reliability . despite the racing heritage and performance potential of the split single engine this particular puch model with a top speed around 110 km h 68 mph was at a disadvantage against the loop scavenged two strokes that arrived in the late 1960s . a total of 38 584 of the sgs motorcycles were produced between 1953 and 1970 . 5 38 584 puch 250 sgs were produced from 1953 to 1970 . puch 500 edit steyr puch 500 main article puch 500 the puch 500 was a city car produced by steyr daimler puch in graz under licence from fiat . based on the fiat 500 it was manufactured from 1957 until 1975 . legacy edit a puch bicycle head badge . in the late 1980s the company was being squeezed out by competition . in 1987 massive restructuring of the company led to the end of the production of two wheelers in graz . the company s technical know how was always better than its marketing and commercial success . the puch motorcycle company was sold to piaggio maker of the vespa in 1987 and still produces bikes under the name puch . when the bicycle division of piaggio which