Steyr-Puch Off-road Vehicles: Books - History

Der Steyr-Puch Haflinger des Österreichischen Bundesheeres

The Steyr-Puch Haflinger is considered a cult vehicle today. The small all-wheel drive vehicle has found its museum home in Graz, in the Puch Museum, where many variants can be admired. But it can also still be found on the road, and thanks to the Internet there is a worldwide community and bond of Haflinger fans.

In his book, Walter Blasi describes the long journey of this vehicle to become one of the mainstays of the Austrian Armed Forces. The course for the Haflinger was set as early as 1956. The first prototypes were built in 1957.
The subsequent test drives by the Graz test department were accompanied by great interest from the population. In 1959, the off-road vehicle finally went into series production under the name "Haflinger Type 700 AP".

The name "Haflinger" is derived from the mountain horse that has proved its worth in the Austrian army and was spontaneously coined during a demonstration. It took some time before the Haflinger became a military-grade vehicle. In 1958, the vehicle was already being subjected to extensive testing in several military departments.
The Haflinger was eventually used by commanders, commandos and small radio teams. The "normal" version had four seats, the radio Haflinger had three seats.

The vehicle subsequently developed into a military export hit. There was great interest abroad. 80 percent of production was exported to 110 countries.
In the 1970s, large foreign deliveries went primarily to Africa. The subsequent decline in demand for the Haflinger was gradually compensated for by orders for its bigger brother, the Pinzgauer.

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Das Puch Automobil-Buch

The book "Puch-Automobile von 1900-1990" was published around 30 years ago. All editions are completely sold out, and you have a completely new book on this subject in front of you.
Three decades of dynamic automobile development have fundamentally changed the former Puch factory in Graz Thondorf. Today, the most important vehicle production facility in Austria is located there, with its successor company MAGNA. Car brands from all over the world have their vehicles manufactured in Graz.

However, it all began on the initiative of a man with an iron will and brilliant technical and commercial vision: Johann Puch. This work, now available under the title "Das Puch Automobil-Buch" (weight: 2.5 kg!), offers many previously unknown facts and new insights into the early days of Puch automobiles.

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