Austro-Daimler

Austro-Daimler was an Austrian automaker company, from 1899 until 1934. It was subsidiary of the German Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) .

Early history

In 1890, Eduard Bierenz was appointed as Austrian retailer. The company sold so well that also it began manufacturing the automobiles after uniting with Eduard Fischer's engineering factory. The works were located at Wiener-Neustadt. By this subsidiary DMG became the first automotive multinational in history.

Thus on August 11, 1899, the Austrian Daimler Engine Society was founded. Whilst the assembling parts stemmed from Stuttgart, in 1900 they built their first automobile which featured 2 cylinders, 4 hp (3.0 kW), and 4 seats. Soon they started producing engines for luxurious cars, trucks, buses, maritime ships, and trains.

Paul Daimler era

In 1902, Paul Daimler, Gottlieb Daimler's son, took charge of the Technical Department. He developed a compact car (8 hp, 45 km/h). In 1905 he built the company's first armoured car, which had 30 hp (22 kW). Also, the company produced engines for both trucks and buses. However, Daimler returned to Stuttgart in 1905 to take over the research and development department, which had been vacated by Maybach.

Austro-Daimler 6

The Austro-Daimler 6 was a series of Austrian six-cylinder water-cooled inline aero engines first produced in 1910 by the Austro-Daimler company.

Design and development

The first Austro-Daimler six-cylinder engine was designed by Dr-Ing Ferdinand Porsche to be an aircraft engine from the outset. Of high quality manufacture the Austro-Daimler was modestly rated at relatively low rpm, which gave the engine family a reputation for robustness and reliability.

Features of the Austro-Daimler included welded steel water jackets, (originally copper), seven main bearings and large diameter inclined inlet and exhaust valves opened by dual action push-pull rods and closed by spring pressure.

The Austro-Daimler inspired many imitators such as the Mercedes D.II, Benz Bz.IV, Beardmore, and Hiero 6. Modest availability of the Austro-Daimler engines forced some aircraft manufacturers to substitute Mercedes (the German Daimler company) engines in their aircraft, due to greater availability.