Hoffmann-Werke Lintorf

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Hoffmann-Werke Lintorf
legal form
founding 1945 (as Solingen bicycle factory )
Seat Lintorf , Germany
management Jakob Oswald Hoffmann
Number of employees
  • approx. 60 (1945)
  • 250 (1946)
  • 360 (1948)
Branch Bicycle manufacturers , motorcycle manufacturers , automobile manufacturers

Hoffmann governor
Motorbike MF10
Factory building 2012

The Hoffmann-Werke Lintorf was a vehicle manufacturer from Lintorf in the Mettmann district.

motorcycles

Jakob Oswald Hoffmann produced bicycles and from 1949 on the factory premises in Lintorf acquired in 1945 also motorcycles from 98 cm³ to 250 cm³ with ILO engines and, under license, the then famous Vespa scooters. However, Hoffmann only became known with an elaborate new design, the Hoffmann Gouverneur . The motorcycle, designed by Richard Küchen and his brother Xaver, was characterized by its smooth lines. It was a machine with a two-cylinder four-stroke boxer engine (248 cm³, 11 hp at 4600 rpm) and cardan drive, which initially suffered from considerable technical difficulties, like many new releases of the time. But with the revised Gouverneur MP 250-2 and the new S 300 from the same construction kit, sophisticated versions came onto the market in 1953.

Car cabin 250

At the same time they tried to appear on the market with their own small car . Attempts to obtain a license from Iso failed. Hoffmann then copied the Italian small car, but omitted the patented front door with the steering wheel swivel mechanism. The "Hoffmann Auto-Cab 250" only had one door on the passenger side. There were legal disputes with BMW, the official licensee of Iso, which Hoffmann lost, and so in 1954/55 only a little over 100 Hoffmann cabs were produced at a unit price of DM 2900  . Another source gives 113 vehicles produced in 1955 and 34 in the following year.

Scooter

Between 1950 and 1954, about 50,000–60,000 Vespa motor scooters were produced at Hoffmann. These Vespas are currently among the most wanted Vespa models in Germany. Hoffmann had further developed the Vespa on his own initiative and, with the "Queen", created a much-praised version that was considered by many to be better than the original. This led to license disputes with Piaggio . This dispute and the technical defects of the motorcycles led to a settlement with subsequent bankruptcy in November 1954.

The company was later continued and produced armaments until December 1991.

Web links

Commons : Hoffmann-Werke Lintorf  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://hoffmann-oldtimer.de/historie/
  2. ↑ a b "Die Quecke" Ratinger and Angerländer Heimatblätter No. 66 (1996) pp. 179–192
  3. ^ Hans Christoph von Seherr-Thoss : The German automobile industry. Documentation from 1886 until today . Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1974, ISBN 3-421-02284-4 , p. 508 .
  4. ↑ Vespa's luck and end - “Bankruptcy” is written on the factory wall . In: Der Spiegel . No. 1 , 1955 ( online ).