motorcycles - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 2016 - 220 Euro Cent

In 1890, the gifted mechanic Johann Puch founded his first bicycle factory in Graz. After many turbulent years, during which the company developed in line with the times and experienced many highs and lows, in 1917 the production of automobiles and large four-stroke motorcycles, which had meanwhile started, was discontinued, and the company was about to be dissolved. However, on the initiative of the Italian technician Giovanni Marcellino, they began to develop cheap, small two-wheeled vehicles as mass vehicles, a so-called "Volksmotorrad" with a twin-piston two-stroke engine - the Puch 125 LM. Because of the torpedo-shaped tank with the Puch logo the 125 LM soon got the nickname "cigar or Zeppelinpuch". From 1923 to 1927, 2,500 pieces of the Puch 125 LM were produced, there was also a sports version and even a women's version. With a power of 2 hp and a two-speed gearbox, the 125 LM achieved a speed of up to 60 km / h.   Puch motorcycles were extremely successful until the fifties, in the post-war years especially the scooters were a popular means of transport. From 1965 on, the legendary Moped Puch Maxi was built, which became a worldwide bestseller in a variety of variants. The legendary small car Puch 500 was introduced in 1957 and made until the seventies. Bikes of the brand Puch, including e-bikes and the classic weapon wheel, are still produced today and distributed by the Austrian company Faber. Of course, the founder Johann Puch did not experience all this, he died before the beginning of the First World War in 1914.