Mars (motorcycle)
The Mars works were a company of vehicle production from Nuremberg.
Company History
In 1873, Paul Reisman founded the company mars for the production of cast iron, so-called American ovens in the Siegmund street in Nuremberg - Doos. It was followed by the production of hand, belt and motor sirens, grinding machines and bicycles. 1903 began with the construction of motorcycles and launched in the same year with the production of a few cars, found on their drive 1000 cm ³ De Dion Bouton engines with a cylinder use. However, the automobile ended already in 1909. Motorcycles For Swiss Motosacoche and Zedelmotoren came for installation.
The most famous design was that of Richard Ing Claus Franzburg 1920 designed, legendary White Mars which contrary to the name, also in red or green color was available. The also constructed of Franzburg two-cylinder boxer engine was manufactured at the prestigious Maybach in Friedrichshafen exclusively for Mars. The air-cooled, side-valve engine was started with the hand crank was installed along a displacement of 956 cc and was in the welded steel plates and riveted box frame. The transmission was located above the rear of the magnet on the front cylinder.
Mars also built competition machines of this type that have enabled major sporting success. The factory racer Ernst Schulz and Heinz Wilhelm won in 1921 the 1st and 2nd Bavarian Championships.
The work came during the inflation 1923/1924 financial difficulties. The brothers John and Karl Mueller, who worked as a manager and design engineer at Mars, took over the factory, but not the brand name. The machines were driven by this change of ownership under the name of "MA".
From the late 1920s until the Second World War, was built at Mars motorcycles with built-in motors of Motosacoche, Villiers, Sachs, JAP and Sturmey - Archer. It included both two-stroke and four-stroke engines for various displacements.
After 1945, designed Ing Rudi Albert, who worked previously as chief designer at Allright in Cologne and phenomenon in Zittau, the Stella ³ with 147, 174 and 198 cm Sachs engines and the last light motorcycle of Mars, the Monza with a 49 - cc engine. In 1958, Mars was forced how to register many German bicycle manufacturer at this time bankruptcy. The Gritzner -Kayser AG in Karlsruhe- Durlach has briefly continued the construction of Monza and also get the production facilities of another mopeds, the Milano. The moped production was maintained at Gritzner up in the 1960s.
Licenses
Slatiňanská továrna automobilů RA Smekal from Slatiňany, then Austria - Hungary, customized vehicles for a license from Mars.