• Rare early survivor of a relatively short-lived make • One of a believed two survivors from 1901 • Formerly part of a private collection in its home town of Bielefeld • Part of the Bühner Collection since 2002 • London-Brighton Veteran Car Run participant Producers of (mainly) industrial sewing machines, the Dürkopp company still exists today as Dürkopp-Adler.

Dürkopp's origins date back to 1867 when Nikolaus Dürkopp started his sewing machine business in the German city of Bielefeld, a centre for bicycle manufacture.

Dürkopp owned another plant in Graz, Austria, and in the 1880s both factories began producing bicycles to meet the Europe-wide boom in this form of transportation.

The firm's first automobile followed in 1898.

Constructed along Panhard lines, these first Dürkopps featured front-mounted vertical twin-cylinder engines, final drive by chains, and wheels of unequal size.

A much smaller car with a rear-mounted engine was on offer in 1899, featuring tandem seating and wi...