DKW was a German car- and motorcycle-marque. DKW was one of the four companies that formed Auto Union in 1932 and thus became an ancestor of the modern-day Audi company.
The Rover Company Limited was a British car manufacturing company that operated from its base in Solihull in Warwickshire. Its lasting reputation for quality and performance was such that its first postwar model reviewed by Road & Track in 1952 was pronounced finer than any but a Rolls-Royce. Rover also manufactured the Land Rover series from 1948 onwards, which spawned the Range Rover in 1970, and went on to become its most successful and profitable product — with Land Rover eventually becoming a separate company and brand in its own right.
Triumph Engineering Co Ltd was a British motorcycle manufacturing company, based originally in Coventry and then in Meriden. A new company, Triumph Motorcycles Ltd, based in Hinckley, gained the name rights after the end of the company in the 1980s and is now one of the world's major motorcycle manufacturers.
Adler was a German automobile and motorcycle manufacturer from 1900 until 1957. The 'Adler' name is German for 'eagle'.
Humber Limited was a British manufacturer of bicycles, motorcycles, and cars incorporated and listed on the stock exchange in 1887. It took the name "Humber & Co Limited" because of the high reputation of the products of one of the constituent businesses that had belonged to Thomas Humber. A financial reconstruction in 1899 transferred its business to Humber Limited.
Excelsior, based in Coventry, was a British bicycle, motorcycle and car maker. They were Britain’s first motorcycle manufacturer, starting production of their own ‘motor-bicycle’ in 1896. Initially they had premises at Lower Ford Street, Coventry, and 287-295 Stoney Stanton Road, Hillfields, Coventry, Warwickshire before moving to Kings Road, Tyseley, Birmingham in 1921.
A transverse engine is an engine mounted in a vehicle so that the engine's crankshaft axis is perpendicular to the direction of travel. Many modern front-wheel drive vehicles use this engine mounting configuration. Most rear-wheel drive vehicles use a longitudinal engine configuration, where the engine's crankshaft axis is parallel with the direction of travel, except for some rear-mid engine vehicles, which use a transverse engine and transaxle mounted in the rear instead of the front. Despite typically being used in light vehicles, it is not restricted to such designs and has also been used on armoured fighting vehicles to save interior space.
The Vincent Black Shadow is a British motorcycle designed and built at the Vincent works in Great North Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire UK. Motorcycles produced by Vincent H·R·D at their factory in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England were renowned for their design innovation, engineering excellence and high performance. Already advertising their existing 110 mph Rapide machine as "The world's fastest production motorcycle", in February 1948 the distinctive Vincent Black Shadow was announced with a top speed of 125 mph. Built in three different Series over the course of its life, the line continued until 1955, after which the company stopped all motorcycle production.
The CWS T-1 was the first serially-built car manufactured in Poland. A series of different cars based on the T-1 chassis designed by Tadeusz Tański of the Centralne Warsztaty Samochodowe, it was the only motor car that could be completely dismantled and put together again with one tool, since all its screws and bolts had the same diameter.
The Państwowe Zakłady Inżynierii was a Polish pre-World War II arms industry holding and the main Polish manufacturer of vehicles, both military and civilian.
Sokół was a brand of motorcycles manufactured in Poland before World War II for both civilian and military use. Initially designed and produced by the Centralne Warsztaty Samochodowe CWS company (Central Automotive Workshops), they were continued after its takeover by the PZInż between 1934 and 1939.
The Sokół 1000 was the heaviest Polish pre-war motorcycle manufactured by the PZInż works, for both civilian and military use by the Polish Army. Production of the model 1000 started in 1933 and lasted until the outbreak of World War II in 1939. A standard completion was a sidecar combination.
Ariel Motorcycles was a British maker of bicycles and then motorcycles in Bournbrook, Birmingham. It was an innovator in British motorcycling, part of the Ariel marque. The company was sold to BSA in 1951 but the brand survived until 1967. Influential Ariel designers included Val Page and Edward Turner. The last motorcycle-type vehicle to carry the Ariel name was a short-lived three-wheel tilting moped in 1970.
Douglas was a British motorcycle manufacturer from 1907 to 1957 based in Kingswood, Bristol, owned by the Douglas family, and especially known for its horizontally opposed twin cylinder engined bikes and as manufacturers of speedway machines. The company also built a range of cars between 1913 and 1922.
Showa is a brand of high-performance automotive, motorcycle and outboard suspension systems of Hitachi Astemo, based in Gyoda, Saitama in Japan.
The Type 97 motorcycle, or Rikuo, was a copy of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle produced with a sidecar from 1935 in Japan under license from Harley-Davidson by the Sankyo Company. Some 18,000 of the machines were used by the Imperial Japanese forces during World War II. A variation was also manufactured without a side car, called the Type 93.
Capriolo, later called Aeromere, was the name of the motorcycle production arm of the Italian aircraft company Aeromere or Aero-Caproni. After World War II, the victorious Allies prohibited wartime aircraft and other military hardware suppliers from remaining in their previous industries, and Aero-Caproni would change its name to Capriolo and become one of several, including Aermacchi, MV Agusta, Vespa and Ducati, that switched to producing motorcycles or scooters. These companies did well until the mid-1960s, when the advent of affordable cars like the Fiat 500 removed the economic barrier that kept many Italians relying on motorcycles for basic transportation. Capriolo was typical of those that could not survive the transformation to a more export-orientated industry, with the US as the most important market. Motorcycle production ran from 1947 or 1948 until 1964.
Huta Ludwików is one of the oldest and best-known Polish metal parts manufacturers. The company is a subsidiary Of Kielce-based Zakłady Wyrobów Metalowych joint-stock company. Huta Ludwików is a major producer of automotive parts, supplying most European automaker. In the past the name of the factory was primarily associated with various types of military equipment produced for the Polish Army, ranging from the wz. 34 sabres and wz. 31 helmet to SHL motorcycles. It was also the main sponsor of the now-defunct SHL Kielce sports club.
The automobile industry in Poland makes up a sizeable part of the Polish economy, accounting for about 11% of Poland's industrial production. Poland is one of the largest producer of light vehicles in Central and Eastern Europe. As of 2013 Poland was the 23rd largest automaker in the world.
MOJ is a defunct brand of motorcycles that were manufactured in Katowice, Poland from 1937 to 1939. The name derives from the nickname of the founder, Gustaw Różycki, whilst he was a student at the University of Leoben.
