c1958 Adler 250cc 'Favorit' Motorcycle

Description

Like many other early marques, Adler, of Frankfurt-am-Main, was a well established bicycle manufacturer before the company turned to horseless carriages. Proprietor Heinrich Kleyer had been producing Adler cycles since 1886, and his first link with the new automobile world was a contract to supply wire wheels to Benz for their spidery Velo motor carriages. The first Adler car emerged in 1900 and sold well,Kleyer also started to produce motor cycles. By 1903 Adler were producing single and twin-cylinder motor cycles. The company enjoyed various successes and produced innovative vehicles at the fore front of design over the next 25-30 years winning many races with air and water cooled 247cc street racers ridden by Lohmann,Beer, Vogel and Falk to name a few. Production was brought to a firm halt with the bombing of the factory during World War 2. Adler planned to revive the range with the return of peace time but this never eventuated. When the war ended the factory was rebuilt and reverted temporarily to motorcycle manufacture and more permanently to type writers for which they would become world famous- as a member of the Grundig group to be taken over by Olivetti in 1957, motor cycle production ceased shortly after.