A German motorcycle brand which was well-known in the Motorcycle world was founded in the year 1917. With the help of Fritz Neumeyer and his colleagues, they gave rise to this company. Zundapp was registered under the name of Zunder- und Apparatebau G.m.b.H which was a detonators manufacturer.
Due to the demand of weapons during the First World War the company grew and Fritz Neumeyer became the only owner of the company. After two years, he changed the manufacturing from detonators into motorcycles.
The company now was focused in producing motorcycles in 1984.
In the year 1921, the Z22 was introduced and was also the pioneering motorcycle of the Zundapp Company. This Z22 was made to be simple but still dependable and was manufactured in huge numbers.
Then in 1933, they started to create a heavy motorcycle through their K-series and it became part of the history of Zundapp Motorcycle Company. This so called weighty motorcycle had a closed engine case and was indeed a novelty of time.
The Zundapp K-series included models from 200 to 800 cc which was an immense accomplishment that took a foothold of the market share from 5% in 1931 to 18% in 1937.
From the year 1940 onwards, the company created more than 18,000 units of the KS750. This Zundapp KS750 came with a sidecar which had a driven side wheel.
The company steadily changed and was now focused in producing smaller machines when the Second World War ended. This sudden change gave way to the motor scooters like the Bella.
The KS601 which had a 598 cc two-cylinder engine was the last of its kind in the line of heavy motorcycles. Even though the model was the last of its kind, it was also surprisingly one of the more popular models and was introduced in 1951.
The Zundapp Company embarked on the production of the Zündapp Janus microcar for two consecutive years starting from 1957 to 1958.
The Zundapp Company transferred from Nuremberg to Munich in 1958. Afterwards, they began to develop numerous models with their four-stroke engines but now only produce two-stroke models.
From the start, the Zündapp scooters and mopeds sold, but the sales quickly deteriorated. The Zundapp Motorcycle Company went broke and closed in 1984.
Original Authors: Gobel Team (Bomber)
Edit Update Authors: M.A.Harris
Updated On: 06/06/2008
