Magomobil

Magosix sport-touring car model, 1927

MÁG (later known as Magomobil) stands for "Magyar Általános Gépgyár Rt" (Hungarian General Machine Factory Corp.), the most important Hungarian vehicle manufacturer before World War II, based in Budapest. Its roots date back to 1901, when Podvinecz&Heisler (a company created by two young entrepreneurs, 25-year-old Dániel Podvinecz and 24-year-old Vilmos Heisler, started assembling Austrian Leesdorfer cars - themselves being French Amédée Bollée cars built under license.

More successful was their later Phönix model, a German Cudell model built under license. The company name was changed to Magyar Általános Gépgyár Rt in 1912. Production was boosted by orders from the Post, the Army and other organizations – and outperforming other Hungarian manufacturers, including Röck, Rába, MARTA etc.- as the government tried to support local industry.

MÁG introduced several models, designed by János Csonka, Jenő (Eugene) Fejes and other talented engineers. The name MÁG was later changed to Magomobil to avoid confusion with the Swiss MAG, maker of the famous Motosacoche motorcycles.

World War I brought new business for the company, as it produced airplane engines under Austro-Daimler license, as well as complete airplanes. After the war new car models appeared, including the Magosix, with a 6-cylinder engine, while a few Magomobils were also exported to the UK. However, the economic crisis of 1929 had devastating effects, eventually bringing the company down. A total of 2000 passenger cars, 150 trucks and buses, as well as 1000 automobile engines had been produced.

References

• History of MAG
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