Description
The Steyr 50 is a small car released in 1936 by the Austrian car manufacturer Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG.
Design
The streamlined body was approved by director Karl Jenschke to be built in 1935, but in November of the same year Jenschke was employed as chief designer by the German Adler manufacturer in Frankfurt/Main. It was officially introduced to the public at the 1936 Berlin Motor Show.
The car had a water-cooled four-cylinder boxer engine with thermosiphon cooling, which drove the rear wheels via a four-speed gearbox. To save space and weight, a dynastarter was used, which also served as the radiator fan shaft. It was considered the “Austrian Volkswagen” and was affectionately called “Steyr Baby”. Despite rumors, Volkswagen builder Ferdinand Porsche had not been involved in the design or production of the 50, nor had Hans Ledwinka, who had designed the Tatra V570. The little Steyr offered more seating and luggage space than Porsche's Volkswagen, with a shorter overall length, a large sheet-metal sliding roof, and hydraulic brakes (instead of the cable-operated brakes of early Volkswagens).
was 1938 Steyr 55 exhibited in the Technical Museum Vienna
In early 1938 the car was revised. It got a more powerful engine and a longer wheelbase. The new model became the Steyr 55 and was sold until the end of production in 1940.
A total of 13.000 “Steyr Babies” were sold.
Other Steyr models included the Steyr 100 and the Steyr 120, both equipped with a four-cylinder engine, and the flagship, the Steyr 220, with a 2,2 liter six-cylinder engine delivering 55 hp (41 kW; 56 PS). All these models were also produced as convertibles. Production of Steyr cars was stopped during World War II, after bombings of the Steyr facilities.
After the war the factory was rebuilt and from 1953 it specialized in the Austrian versions of the Fiat models 1400 and 1900 (Steyr 2000). From 1957 the company also produced the Puch 500, based on the Fiat 500. Today the Steyr factory produces the BMW X models for Europe.
