1960 Steyr Puch 500

Puch 500 was a small car produced by Steyr-Daimler-Puch in the city of Graz, Austria. It was manufactured under licence from Fiat and was based on the Fiat 500.

In 1954 it was decided at Steyr-Puch to resume car production post war. Because of the high costs associated with the development of a completely new design, an agreement was made with Fiat to acquire and adapt the body in of their Fiat 500 model. Of the body, only the engine cover and later the roof were produced in-house, however the engine, transmission and carriage were all manufactured by Steyr-Puch.

We are very proud to offer this extremely rare car. "AEM 655' is believed to be one of only 33 righthand drive Steyr Puch 500's produced and to the best of our knowledge, one of only two cars known to remain. The other car resides in the Steyr Puch museum in Austria.

"AEM 655' was first registered in the UK on October 21st 1960 to Ryders of Liverpool as the original UK demonstration car. Incredibly, the original delivery note from the factory to Ryders in 1960 is included with this lot.

Purchased by the current vendor one year ago from the previous owner of 28 years where it has been stored in Southern Ireland. The car is believed to have received a sympathetic restoration some years ago while in storage and is still in very good condition throughout. Just 64,733 miles are recorded. A lovely nod to the cars origins are a picture of a lady complete with mini-skirt which sits inside the key ring of the original key.

After storage of some 28 years this wonderful little car has been brought back to the road this year, with a fresh interior trim, new tyres and very few other minor mechanical touches. It is a suicide door early model. Supplied with a MOT until August 2015, the vendor informs us that it has been serviced and is in good running order.

This stunningly unique 500 is an intricate piece of the Steyr/Fiat family, this surely is an opportunity for both Steyr and Fiat collector's internationally.

The registration number "AEM 655' is shown for illustration purposes only. This car is currently undergoing a registration reassignment after its 28 years of storage abroad. The vendor informs us that he hopes the original number will be reassigned. Please contact us close to the auction to confirm the registration number allocated.