A significant part of our collection is made up of the greats of Hungarian motorcycle production. Like Csepel, Pannonia , Jáva , Tünde or Danuvia. Here in this article I want to give a deeper industry insight. 

Hungarian motorcycle production was nationalized between 1946-48.

Between 1950 and 1956 the name of the motor factory was Rákosi Mátyás Iron and Metal Works. The 1950s saw the birth of the famous Csepel 100 and then the 125 model. These series even won major awards in international competitions.  The 250 Cm3 engines were also produced under Rákosi. With the violent industrialisation of the 1950s, production of the 125 Csepel was transferred to the Danuvia machine tool factory.  After that, only the larger cc version was produced in Csepel. In 1954, the new engines were marketed under the name Pannónia. 1956 was the year of the greatest sporting success of the Csepel motorcycle factory. At the Bol d’Or, the 24-hour race in France, the Mogürt foreign trade company entered two Hungarian racing motor in the 250cc category. The duo of György Kurucz and János Kurucz-Reisz won the category, while the pair of László Cserkúti and László Csűcs came third.

After 1956 it was renamed Csepel Iron and Metal Works. The 175 cc scooters called Tünde were also produced here in the early 1960s. Also at this time the 50 cm3 Panni small scooter was produced. It was a response to the Vespa wave that was very successful in the West. The Panni was made in Csepel, but not in the Csepel motorcycle factory, but in the bicycle factory.

The sixties were the golden age of Hungarian motorcycle production. Until 1960-68, production boomed. In ’68 the production of two-cylinder motorcycles started in Csepel. This year was the first phase of the introduction of the new economic mechanism. An attempt was made to introduce market conditions within the framework of state socialism.  The price of motorcycles was capped, which proved fatal in the face of rising raw material and energy prices. There were no resources left for development. Thus, in the autumn of 1975, production ceased in Csepel. Further motorcycle production was absorbed into the bicycle factory. Until 1987, more than 700,000 motorcycles were produced in Csepel.