1938 Austrian Steyr
One of 6 original, and 2 remaining world wide, this superbly restored 1938 Austrian built Steyr 220 Roadster bodied by German based Coachbuilder Glaser. The only one in the US, and also in private hands with the other remaining Cabrio in a European Museum.
The Steyr-Werke in the town of Steyr in eastern Austria was a weapons and bicycle manufacturer employing some 14,000 people during the First World War. By the time the war was over, the company had produced a total of 3,000,325 rifles, 234,919 pistols, and 40,524 machine guns. But following the war, demand for weapons went into sharp decline and Steyr's managing board of directors decreed the company would try its luck at an automobile. In 1920, famed designer Hans Ledwinka (most famous for the Tatra automobile) designed and built the first Steyr, the Wafenauto. Later cars were built under the leadership of Ferdinand Porsche who joined the company in 1929 after working for Mercedes. The company was merged with Austro-Daimler-Puch in 1934. In total, Steyr manufactured 34,776 cars between 1920 and 1940. Steyrs were a nicely designed mid-sizd car, and the 220 was the last pre-war model built by Steyr. They were available in four body styles provided by Dresden, Germany-based coachbuilder Glaser. All 220s were powered by a 260cc overhead valve six-cylinder inline engine. Given the car's lightweight and rigid chassis with four-wheel independent suspension, its performance and handling would have been exceptional for the day.
During the Second World War this model, (220) especially in a cabriolet version, was designed primarily for Nazi Germany's high rank commanders and officers. A Steyr 220, with the more powerful 2.3 litre engine was the car used in an escape from Auschwitz concentration camp on 20 June 1942. The car was owned by the camp commandant Rudolf Höss and was taken by the escapees (Kazimierz Piechowski, Stanisław Gustaw Jaster, Józef Lempart and Eugeniusz Bendera), who were dressed in SS uniforms and armed accordingly, and driven straight out of the main gates of the camp. The 4 escapees were never recaptured. Was a movie ever made..?? If not it should have been!!
AS ALWAYS....COMMENTS & INVITATIONS with AWARD BANNERS will be respectfully DELETED!
1938 Austrian Steyr
One of 6 original, and 2 remaining world wide, this superbly restored 1938 Austrian built Steyr 220 Roadster bodied by German based Coachbuilder Glaser. The only one in the US, and also in private hands with the other remaining Cabrio in a European Museum.
The Steyr-Werke in the town of Steyr in eastern Austria was a weapons and bicycle manufacturer employing some 14,000 people during the First World War. By the time the war was over, the company had produced a total of 3,000,325 rifles, 234,919 pistols, and 40,524 machine guns. But following the war, demand for weapons went into sharp decline and Steyr's managing board of directors decreed the company would try its luck at an automobile. In 1920, famed designer Hans Ledwinka (most famous for the Tatra automobile) designed and built the first Steyr, the Wafenauto. Later cars were built under the leadership of Ferdinand Porsche who joined the company in 1929 after working for Mercedes. The company was merged with Austro-Daimler-Puch in 1934. In total, Steyr manufactured 34,776 cars between 1920 and 1940. Steyrs were a nicely designed mid-sizd car, and the 220 was the last pre-war model built by Steyr. They were available in four body styles provided by Dresden, Germany-based coachbuilder Glaser. All 220s were powered by a 260cc overhead valve six-cylinder inline engine. Given the car's lightweight and rigid chassis with four-wheel independent suspension, its performance and handling would have been exceptional for the day.
During the Second World War this model, (220) especially in a cabriolet version, was designed primarily for Nazi Germany's high rank commanders and officers. A Steyr 220, with the more powerful 2.3 litre engine was the car used in an escape from Auschwitz concentration camp on 20 June 1942. The car was owned by the camp commandant Rudolf Höss and was taken by the escapees (Kazimierz Piechowski, Stanisław Gustaw Jaster, Józef Lempart and Eugeniusz Bendera), who were dressed in SS uniforms and armed accordingly, and driven straight out of the main gates of the camp. The 4 escapees were never recaptured. Was a movie ever made..?? If not it should have been!!
AS ALWAYS....COMMENTS & INVITATIONS with AWARD BANNERS will be respectfully DELETED!