MZ by Mick Walker Redline Enthusiasts Series

Author: Mick Walker, Softbound, 143 Pages, ISBN: 9780954435745, 1st Edition, 2004

The MZ story , spans almost a century of motorcycle production in the German state of Saxony. Before MZ came the equally famous DKW brand, which during the late 19205 had the distinction of being the largest mororcycle manufacturer in the world. In the 1930s DKW were not only renowned as leading the field in two-stroke technology, but also proving its products in motorcycle sport under the banner of Auto Union.

Postwar, with a divided Germany, DKW came West and set up new headquarters in Ingolstat. First as IFA then from the mid-1950s MZ, built millions of two-stroke models at the old DKW works in Zschopau.
Besides its comprehensive range of practical cheap-tobuy roadsters, MZ was a formidable force in the world of motorcycle sport with its Grand Prix racers and long distance trials mounts.

In Walter Kaaden, MZ could boast one of the truly great designers of all time, seen today as the man who invented the modern high performance two-stroke.

Then when the Iron Curtain came down at the end of the 1980s, the marque was reformed and has since traded as MuZ, with new capitalist owners, who have subsequently transformed the product range into an exciting line-up for the new millennium, exclusively four-stroke engines ranging from 125 to 1000cc, in a variety of guises including commuter, trial, enduro, supermoto and superbike.

Late English motorcycle enthusiast and prolific author Mick Walker has written a lot of similar books and articles in English on little-known Eastern Bloc marques such as this.