1958 Maico 500
"Strong, roomy, economical
.
that is the beautiful and elegant line of Maico 500 four-seaters."
At least that is what the sales brochures said.
The brothers Otto and William Maisch had created a new line of cars based on what remained of their Champion line of autos.
Although offered in 400cc version, sales showed the public clearly preferred the larger 500 model (actually 452ccHeinkel 461-A-O water-cooled 2 stroke).
But even though there was sufficient space for 4 people and a great deal of storage space, something was missing.
Perhaps it was quality control that was the missing element, as the car suffered from broken steering arms that had to be replaced under warranty, rather than lose customers or garner bad publicity, they would take the broken cars in on trade for a replacement car rather than just repair the damage.They designed an entirely new front axle with double wishbones to fix this issue, but the Maisch brothers were running out of money and Banks were not extending anymore credit to them.
A small company such as Maico could not compete against the larger automobile manufacturers and Maico went out of the automobile business in 1958 but continued to manufacture motorcycles and scooters through 1986
Manufacturer: Macio-Werke GmbH , Pfäffingen-Tübingen , Germany
Model: MC 500 |
Motor: Heinkel, 2-stroke |
Body: Steel |
Years Built: 1956-1957 |
No. Cylinders: 2 |
Chassis: Tube |
No. Produced: 6301 |
Displacement: 452 cc |
Suspension Front: Coil |
No. Surviving: n/a |
Horsepower: 18 |
Suspension Rear: Swing axle |
Length: 3430 mm |
Gearbox: 4 + rev |
Steering: Wormgear |
Width: 1470 mm |
Starter: Dynastart |
Brakes: Hydraulic |
Weight: 575 kg |
Electrics: 12v |
4 Wheels: 5.20x12" |
Interior: 4 seats |
Ignition: Coil |
Top Speed: 95 km/h |
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