Originally a branch of the German Daimler factory, the works at Wiener-Neustadt became independent in 1906, and built some excellent cars. The firm's first designer was Paul Daimler, son of the great Gottlieb Daimler, followed by Ferdinand Porsche, who was responsible for the Mercedes-Electrique-Mixte of 1902-1907, Karl Rabe, Oskar Hacker and others. The factory also competed successfully in sporting events. Among A-D cars, the "Prince Heinrich" model of 1911 with an ohc 5714cc four-cylinder engine became famous. It developed 95 bhp at 2100 rpm, while a less potent version had side-valves and a 6900c engine developing 60 hp at only l200 rpm. Both were Porsche designs. The smallest model was a 2212cc four-cylinder. In the early 1920s Porsche also created the 1.3litre "Sascha" racing cars, financed by Count Sascha Kolowrat and built at the A-D works. The outstanding production car of that era was the ADM with ohc six-cylinder engines of 2540cc 2650cc and 2994cc. The last model (ADMIII) developed 110hp at 4000 rpm and was one of the great cars the late 1920s. The l00hp ADR was a luxurious, less sporting version. The year 1931 saw the introduction of a 4624cc eight cylinder A-D, a superb, very expensive luxury motor car. The last great car built at Wiener-Neustadt was the six-cylinder "Bergmeister" with an ohc 3614cc engine developing 120 hp at 3600 rpm and a top speed of 90 mph. In 1928 Austro-Daimler amalgamated with Puch and in 1930 with Steyr. Porsche, who had left in 1923 for Daimler-Benz at Stuttgart, later designed big car for Steyr: Steyr soon afterwards joined Austro-Daimler. ©VEA
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