Simson was a German company which produced firearms, automobiles, bicycles and motorcycles, and mopeds. Under the Third Reich, the factory was taken from the Jewish Simson family, and was renamed several times under Nazi and later Communist control. The Simson name was reintroduced as a brand name for mopeds produced at the factory in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Simson mopeds were then produced in Suhl (Germany) until 2002.
History 1854–1933 In 1854 the brothers Löb and Moses Simson bought one third of a steelhammer works in Suhl (Germany). The production of carbon steel began and the firm Simson & Co. was founded in 1856. The factory produced guns and gun barrels in the years following.
In 1871 the first steam engine started its service and the enterprise established production of bicycles in 1896, which was followed by the start of automobile production in 1907. The Simson Supra racing car is famous.
In World War I, Simson produced Mauser Gewehr 98 rifles for the German Army. In the aftermath of the war and the Treaty of Versailles, the reorganized Reichswehr was allowed to buy new handguns from only one company, so as to limit the ability of the German arms industry to recover. Larger manufacturers such as DWM were passed over in favor of Simson precisely because of its lower production capacity, and as such Simson was the sole producer of military-contract Luger P08 pistols from 1925 to 1934. Simson made about 12,000 Lugers in this period. Simson also was responsible for repairing and refurbishing existing firearms of the Reichswehr, though DWM was employed in the capacity as well, in contravention of the Treaty of Versailles. In addition to Lugers, Simson also repaired and refurbished Gewehr 98 and Karabiner 98b rifles, MG08 machine guns and MP18 submachine guns.
In the 1920s Simson also produced .25 ACP Westentaschenpistolen ("vest pocket pistols"), for commercial sale. Until 1989 this was Simson's only venture into commercial handgun production. These pistols were available in two almost identical models, the first known as Model 1 in German and Model 1922 in the United States, and the second as Model 2 in Germany and Model 1927 in the US.
Simson built cars from 1914 to 1915 and from 1919 until 1934. Its 1914 models had four-cylinder engines and were the 1.5 litre, 22 bhp model A and 2.6 litre, 28 bhp model C. In the First World War Simson stopped car production in 1915.
In 1919 Simson resumed car production with a new four-cylinder range: the 1.6 litre, 22 bhp model Bo, 1.6 litre; 40 bhp model Co and 3.5 litre, 45 bhp model D. Top speeds were for the Co and for the D. In 1923 Simson replaced the D with the 3.6 litre, 65 bhp model F, which was Simson's first production model.
In 1924 completely revised its range of cars and gave them the Simson-Supra name. The hand-built models starting at that time and designed by Paul Henze were particularly noteworthy. The first Supra models were the S and the S Sport, which had a four-cylinder, two litre, long-stroke, DOHC engine. The S produced 50 bhp and had a top speed; the S Sport produced 60–80 bhp giving it a top speed of more than . In 1925 a SOHC So version was introduced that produced 40 bhp and had a top speed of only The S and S Sport were discontinued in 1926; So production continued until 1929.
In 1925 Simson introduced its first six-cylinder car, the model J. Its SOHC, 3.1 litre engine produced 60 bhp, giving it a top speed. In 1926 this was succeeded by the model R, which produced similar performance with an OHV pushrod engine.
In 1931 the model J was succeeded by the model RJ, in which the six-cylinder engine had a larger bore giving it 3.3 litres displacement and 70 bhp. In the same year Simson introduced the first and only eight-cylinder Supra, the model A. Its engine shared the RJ's long-stroke dimensions of 79.5 x 115 mm, giving it 4.7 litres displacement. This produced 90 bhp and gave a top speed. Models RJ and A were produced until 1934.
From 1930 Simson also made prams.
1934–48
Hitler's government forced the Jewish Simson family to flee the country in 1936. Under the dispossession of Jewish industrialists (the so-called aryanization) a trustee took control of the firm, and so by merger with other factories the Berlin Suhler Waffen- und Fahrzeugwerke (BSW) was formed. In the same year the factory produced its first motorcycle, the BSW 98, which had a 98 cc engine and two-speed transmission. Critics of the Nazi government suggested a different meaning for the BSW initials: Bis Simson Wiederkommt ("until Simson returns").
After the Simson brothers were exiled the factory increased weapons production. From 1939 the company was called Gustloff-Werke – Waffenwerk Suhl, named after assassinated Swiss Nazi Wilhelm Gustloff, and had subsidiaries such as the Otto Eberhardt Patronenfabrik ("Otto Eberhardt Cartridge Factory"). As well as the main works in Suhl, the Gustloff-Werke had branch factories at Greiz in Thuringia and at Łódź in Nazi-occupied Poland. Sachs-engined motorcycles from 47 cc to 123 cc were made within the Gustloff group from about 1934 until about 1940.
Gustloff-Werke products included 7.92 mm calibre Panzerbüchse 39 anti-tank rifles, 7.92 mm calibre MG 42 machine guns, gun carriages for 20 mm calibre Flak 38 anti-aircraft guns, and various calibres of small arms ammunition. The firm continued to build bicycles, weapons and cars until 1945.
In 1946, by order of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany the manufacturing plant was partially dismantled and transported to the Soviet Union (USSR) as part of the Soviet reparations programme for the damage inflicted on the USSR by Germany in the Second World War. In 1947 the factory was integrated into the Soviet Sowjetische Aktiensgesellschaft Awtowelo (SAG Awtowelo or "Soviet Awtowelo Company Limited"). Автовело or Awtowelo is a Russian portmanteau word derived from автомобиль (avtomobil = "car") and велосипед (velociped = "bicycle"). It was adopted because initially all production was for export to the USSR.
1949–62: four-stroke motorcycles
250cc road models Later, the USSR handed control of the factory to the German Democratic Republic (DDR) and in 1952 it was renamed Volkseigener Betrieb Fahrzeug- und Gerätewerk Simson Suhl. Production of sporting guns, prams and bicycles slowly resumed, but the main focus was again on making motorcycles.
Between 1949 and 1962 the Suhl factory produced more than 209,000 four-stroke motorcycles. They were designated 425, derived from the fact that they had a four-stroke engine with 250 cc displacement. The 425 has overhead valves in a V-formation, has a four-speed transmission, shaft final drive and has a duplex cradle frame. It earned a high reputation in the Eastern Bloc countries. The motorcycles were branded AWO (an abbreviation of Awtowelo) from 1949 until 1955, when the Simson name was revived. Some had Stoye sidecars fitted, and a Stoye Campi luggage trailer could also be fitted.
The original 425 model had plunger rear suspension, a 6.7:1 compression ratio, produced 12 bhp and had a top speed of . It had wheels with half-width drum brakes. The first 1,000 machines were built from July 1949 until December 1950, and all were exported to the USSR. The model was released to the DDR domestic market in 1951. The plunger-framed model was designated AWO 425 from 1949 until 1955 and Simson 425 T from 1955 until 1960. The "T" stands for "Touring", to distinguish it from the Simson 425 S (Sport) model introduced in 1955. The plunger model was made from 1949 until 1960 and a total of 124,000 were built.
The 425 S had a twin-shock swinging arm rear suspension and a top speed of . It had wheels with full-width drum brakes to give it better acceleration and braking than the plunger model. Initially the 425 S had 7.2:1 compression and produced 14 bhp; in 1961 this was increased to 8.3:1 which increased power output to 15.5 bhp. Simson made the 425 S from 1955 until 1962 and a total of 85,000 were built.
250cc and 350cc competition models Several competition versions of the 425 were built. In 1953 a racing version of the plunger-framed model was produced as the AWO 425 R. It was not offered for sale to the public and only 15 examples were built. Power output from the race-tuned version of the pushrod overhead valve engine was 24 bhp. A version with chain-driven double overhead camshafts appeared in 1955 and produced about 28 bhp. By 1958 Simson's racing team found it necessary to switch from shaft drive to chain drive, which meant that it had to develop a new engine as well. For the 1958 season the Simson single had a telescopic front fork and swingarm rear suspension.
Alongside the fast and proven single cylinder engine, Simson also developed a 250 cc parallel twin. It had long-stroke dimensions of 50.5 mm x 56 mm and produced more than 30 bhp at 10,000 rpm. Like the single, the twin's valves were in a V-formation and it had a six-speed transmission and chain final drive. The twin made its first appearance in 1958 with chain driven double overhead camshafts, but for the following season the engine was revised with shaft-driven overhead cams. Simson developed a new motorcycle frame for racing, with a leading link front suspension and long swingarm rear suspension. The twin proved to be fast but was plagued with teething troubles.
In road racing in the 1950s MZ won numerous international victories, but Simson's wins were confined to domestic competition. Simson won the DDR-Meisterschaft ("GDR Championship") in 1953, 1954 and 1955, but in 1958 the Allgemeiner Deutscher Motorsport Verband (ADMV, "General German Motorsport Federation") decided that in the 1959 season works riders would not be allowed to compete in the national championship. Simson therefore withdrew from road racing for 1959.
A Geländesport ("Enduro") version of the swinging-arm framed S model, the Simson 425 GS, was introduced in 1957. Production continued until 1959 and a total of about 80 examples were built. Simson developed a version of its single-cylinder engine enlarged to 350 cc for Enduro and Motocross competition. The enlarged GS engine produced such good performance that Simson decided to make it in larger numbers for competition machines to sell to club riders. In its first years of competition the GS suffered numerous competition defeats, but Simson systematically improved the reliability of its works competition machines. By the time Simson four-stroke production was ended at the end of 1961, the Simson works team had won competitions both in the DDR and abroad, and because of its competitiveness and reliability the GS model was used to equip the DDR's national Six Days Trial team.
350cc road models The Simson Eskorte was a limited-production model built in 1957 for the DDR's Ministerium des Innern (MDI or "Ministry of the Interior") and for the Volkspolizei. The Eskorte looks identical to the 425 S but has a 350 cc engine based on that of the GS. It produced 23 bhp, which gave a top speed of . Only about 30 were built.