Hoffmann (motorcycle)

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Hoffmann was a bicycle manufacturer in Ratingen-Lintorf, Germany. Between 1949 and 1954 the company also manufactured motorcycles. It made a range of models using engines from 125cc to 250cc made by ILO, and the Gouverneur, which had a transversely-mounted 248cc flat twin four-stroke engine designed by the brothers Richard and Xaver Küchen, and shaft drive. The Gouverneur was developed into the MP 250-2 and finally, in 1953, the S 300 model.

Hoffmann also sought a licence from Iso Rivolta in Italy to produce the Isetta bubble car as the Hoffmann Auto-Kabine 250. BMW, Iso's official licence-holder, successfully sued Hoffmann, who had to sell more than 100 Auto-Kabine 250's in 1954-55 for DM 2,900 each.

From 1950 onwards Hoffmann also made between 50,000 and 60,000 Vespa motor scooters under licence. A licencing dispute brought this to an end in 1954. At the same time Hoffmann also withdrew from making its own motorcycles.

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