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AutoPuzzles Today => Features, Stories and Photos => Rare Car of the Week => Topic started by: Paul Jaray on December 03, 2012, 12:55:55 PM

Title: Solved -PJ478- Trautwein Duofront, 1955
Post by: Paul Jaray on December 03, 2012, 12:55:55 PM
Identify this for 1 point.
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: kwgibbs on December 03, 2012, 04:47:47 PM
is this a french self-built  ?
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Paul Jaray on December 04, 2012, 03:37:23 AM
Not French...
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: kwgibbs on December 04, 2012, 06:20:27 PM
soviet ?
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Paul Jaray on December 05, 2012, 03:48:17 AM
Not soviet...
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: targhediferro on December 05, 2012, 04:24:29 AM
The front is made with airplane parts...perhaps a Piper
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Paul Jaray on December 05, 2012, 05:58:46 AM
Not Piper involvement...
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: MrScharroo on December 05, 2012, 02:00:46 PM
Great. I love that vehicle.
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Paul Jaray on December 05, 2012, 02:13:04 PM
It needs a little colour... ;D
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Paul Jaray on December 26, 2012, 06:13:16 PM
Experts?
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: gilescooperuk on December 26, 2012, 06:16:05 PM
Looks to have a complete motorbike under there except the steering?

British?
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Paul Jaray on December 26, 2012, 06:23:25 PM
Quote from: gilescooperuk on December 26, 2012, 06:16:05 PM
Looks to have a complete motorbike under there except the steering?

British?
Highly possible but It's not reported in my source.
Not British.
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: RayTheRat on December 26, 2012, 07:16:32 PM
BMW based?
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Paul Jaray on December 29, 2012, 04:00:06 PM
I don't know... :-\
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: gilescooperuk on December 30, 2012, 02:52:20 PM
German?
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Paul Jaray on January 02, 2013, 06:58:38 AM
Yes!
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Paul Jaray on January 04, 2013, 05:12:48 AM
Last chanche for the Experts...
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Paul Jaray on January 04, 2013, 09:55:31 AM
Pros?
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Wendax on January 04, 2013, 10:15:09 AM
East German?
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Paul Jaray on January 05, 2013, 04:16:48 PM
Nope...
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: kwgibbs on January 06, 2013, 11:45:25 AM
is it a mauser?
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Paul Jaray on January 06, 2013, 11:57:28 AM
Not Mauser...
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: pguillem on January 06, 2013, 01:39:42 PM
Czech ?
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Paul Jaray on January 06, 2013, 02:29:04 PM
Quote from: gilescooperuk on December 30, 2012, 02:52:20 PM
German?
Quote from: Paul Jaray on January 02, 2013, 06:58:38 AM
Yes!
;)
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: grobmotorix on January 06, 2013, 06:22:09 PM
Zündapp?

Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Paul Jaray on January 06, 2013, 06:35:19 PM
Not Zundapp or any other known one.
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: kwgibbs on January 07, 2013, 12:12:53 PM
any heinkel connection?
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Paul Jaray on January 07, 2013, 04:57:11 PM
You are all looking in the wrong direction...no Heinkel.
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Wendax on January 07, 2013, 04:59:45 PM
Is it motorcycle-based?
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Paul Jaray on January 08, 2013, 11:37:45 AM
I suppose it is.
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Wendax on January 08, 2013, 12:48:23 PM
BMW engine?
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Paul Jaray on January 08, 2013, 02:38:27 PM
Find the builder and how he called his vehicle(s), that's all you need for a point.
I don't know much about this model in particular.
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Otto Puzzell on January 19, 2013, 04:50:32 AM
ČERNİ?
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Paul Jaray on January 19, 2013, 05:27:43 AM
Not him...
Big clue: the builder spent his life with these kind of vehicles...
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Otto Puzzell on January 20, 2013, 08:50:51 AM
It probably doesn't resonate with our European members, but that guy looks just like Kenny Bania.  :D

Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Paul Jaray on January 20, 2013, 09:11:51 AM
I'm surprised this one is still unsolved.
That man build a number of vehicles like that...if you google his name there are dozens of results!
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: pnegyesi on January 20, 2013, 09:57:16 AM
The man is Wolfgang Trautwein, this is his first Duofront, based on a Norton motorcycle, built in 1955
Title: Re: PJ - 478
Post by: Paul Jaray on January 20, 2013, 10:23:30 AM
What took you so long?  ;D
Correct, one more point for you.
Title: Re: Solved -PJ478- Trautwein Duofront, 1955
Post by: Carnut on January 25, 2013, 09:47:54 AM
In colour!:

Title: Re: Solved -PJ478- Trautwein Duofront, 1955
Post by: grobmotorix on March 23, 2013, 08:28:19 AM
Oh, I had this one as the 1955 Dominator... :o

Title: Re: Solved -PJ478- Trautwein Duofront, 1955
Post by: Paul Jaray on April 03, 2013, 04:55:49 PM
Now that I see this pic I realized I have it also as "Kurvenneiger" from a well known (and often wrong or unaccurate) site.
Title: Re: Solved -PJ478- Trautwein Duofront, 1955
Post by: dzima1985 on April 18, 2013, 09:48:50 AM
Big picture in colour:
Title: Re: Solved -PJ478- Trautwein Duofront, 1955
Post by: DeAutogids on April 19, 2013, 04:52:11 PM
Quote from: Paul Jaray on April 03, 2013, 04:55:49 PM
Now that I see this pic I realized I have it also as "Kurvenneiger" from a well known (and often wrong or unaccurate) site.
Well it does do that, the vehicle can tilt in corners like a motorbike, but all wheels stay connected to the road. Only recently have we seen this commercially available.
Title: Re: Solved -PJ478- Trautwein Duofront, 1955
Post by: Wendax on November 25, 2019, 04:50:36 PM
Grob's picture with some more background:
Title: Re: Solved -PJ478- Trautwein Duofront, 1955
Post by: sichel on April 22, 2022, 10:59:23 AM
Here two more photos taken in 1955 on "Solitude", Stuttgart, Germany.
Carl Hertweck, Editor-in-Chief of the magazine "das Motorrad", on a short test-drive and demonstrating the inclination in curves.

The vehicle had the original-parts of a Norton 500 Dominator-Twin from the steering-head to the rear. Instead of the front fork, there was a suspension of two 16''-wheels which could be inclined parallel in curves. Up to approx. 40 km/
h, the tilt function was blocked by a lever.
This lock then had to be released manually by the driver, and, of course, had to be locked again before stopping, otherwise...

C.H. the driving behaviour of this vehicle was so suspicious that he forbade his employees to drive with it.
But one of them (Ernst Leverkus, called "Klacks") begged until he was allowed to drive, but only "very, very carefully".

Anyone who knows a little about Klacks, can imagine how long this warning lasted.
At 130-140 km/h, it went through a gentle downhill right-hand bend and he left the road with his right front wheel (he had probably forgotten that this 'Domi' had two front wheels), due to the movement during bouncing the latch snapped in the vertical position, the vehicle left the roadway and whizzed down a slope. Klacks was ejected and probably only suffered only bruises.
When he arrived back at the top in a reasonably good condition, he was first embraced by his boss and then shat together.