Information: This is an old - not maintained - article of the AEIOU. In the Austria-Forum you find an updated version of this article in the new AEIOU.
Gräf & StiftGräf & Stift: In 1893 the brothers Franz, Heinrich and Carl Gräf founded a car factory in Vienna where they built the world´s first car with front-wheel drive in 1898 (concept patented in 1900). In 1901 they were joined by Wilhelm Stift and set up Gräf & Stift (from 1904 in Vienna´s 19th district, Döbling). From 1905 onwards, the company concentrated on making large saloon cars (for example for Emperor Franz Joseph I) and small busses (from 1908 for tourist traffic in the Dolomites). After the World Wars they mainly specialised in the production of heavy goods vehicles and buses (production site in Vienna´s 23rd district, Liesing). In 1971 Gräf & Stift was merged with Österreichische Automobil Fabriks-AG to form Österreichische Automobilfabrik ÖAF-Gräf & Stift AG. Literature: M. Minnich, Der Fall Gräf & Stift, master´s thesis, Vienna 1992.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
