German Motorrad

Today in Motorcycle History

Per Motorcycles

Manufactured 1924-26
Friemann & Wolf purchased the plans and plant equipment from Passow (Pawa) and renamed it the Per. [1]

The Per was a considerable improvement on the Pawa, using a larger engine with enclosed engine bay, belt drive, and substantial additional weather protection. The engine supposedly ran on a variety of fuels, from crude oil to petroleum. Two models, with optional two- and three-speed gearbox, and chain drive to the rear wheel on later models.

It appears there may have been three models, using engines of 1.9ps, 3.5ps, and 8ps (344cc).

The machines failed to find a market in the dire economic climate of the times, and despite the support of the Berlin motorcycle manufacturer Ernst Eichler, advertising and detailed explanations in specialist publications, like hundreds of other motorcycle firms the company failed.

The August Horch Museum has displayed the only surviving example, restored by the owner, Michael Lehmann.

Per Dreirad-Lieferwagen

At the Leipzig Technical Fair of 1926 a three-wheel delivery van was introduced in order to reach a larger group of customers. The Per-Motorrad - with a pressed sheet steel frame - was adapted for the purpose. The delivery three-wheelers were equipped with a 308 cc two-stroke engine. Not many can have been built as that same year production came to a halt.

Sources: François-Marie Dumas, Tragatsch p248, motor-hist-foto.de, Axel Oskar Mathieu Archive (OAM)

Notes.
1. OAM give a rather different version of events.


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