MATHIS / FRANCE

SA MATHIS  / STRASBOURG / FRANCE  (1910 - 1950) 

Emile Mathis was an Alsatian automobile manufacturer who started out as a car dealer in Strasbourg in 1898 and became the general agent for “DE DIETRICH” in 1901. He was in contact with the young Ettore Bugatti, and in 1904 they agreed to develop and build a vehicle together: the HERMES SIMPLEX.

The partnership had already ended by 1906, and Emile Mathis did not begin producing vehicles under his own name until 1910.  In 1934, a joint venture was formed with FORD SAF, and vehicles were produced under the MATFORD name; starting in 1935, this included 8-cylinder vehicles and, later, trucks as well (see MATFORD).

 Car production came to an end in 1950. The plant was later taken over by Citroën.

 The first MATHIS vehicle even had two emblems, one on top of the radiator and the other on the radiator core:

 

 

Size	7.3 cm x 8.1 cm
Year	1910 - 1920
Estimate

 

 

backside without makers mark ( as usual in Germany and FRance )

 

The oldest MATHIS advertisement I was able to find is this one from 1911, which is still in German. It clearly shows the emblem pictured above and the one shown below.

 

 

Size	10.4 cm
Year	1910- 1920
Estimate

 

 

1924 advertisement for MATHIS in Cyclecars, Motos et voitures

 

 

What a magnificent photograph, taken in Berlin, Germany, likely in the early 1920s, showing that MATHIS was competing with BUGATTI ( photo collection T.H. Ulrich )

MATHIS, too, could not escape the prevailing trend and began offering its vehicles with pointed radiators in 1925. Note, once again, the second emblem mounted on top of the radiator.

 

 

 

 

 And here it is, the second emblem on top:

 

Size	5.7 cm x 6.1 cm
Year	1924- 1925
Estimate

 

 

backside without makers mark

 

The best-known and perhaps most beautiful MATHIS emblem is the following one, which is enameled in blue and white:

Note the ribbed ring around the emblem

 

Size	with ring  5.5 cm
Year	1928
Estimate

 

The MATHIS Type 123 also featured a hood ornament depicting a flame, which was presumably meant to symbolize the car's fiery spirit.

 

two stars for this quite simple mascot

 

Size	6.6 cm x 7.5 cm
Year	1928 - 1929
Estimate

 

 

1929 ad in Automobile et Tourisme  showing a MATHIS with mascot

 

 You can see the hood ornament much more clearly in this photo:

MATHIS Type EMY SIX, still with flat radiator

 

 

there was also this version with a flat, chromed ring. I suspect it´s a newer version

 

 The MATHIS EMY 6 model was developed during the collaboration between MATHIS and FORD and had a v-shaped radiator:

 

 

 

Size	4.9 cm x 6.3 cm
Year	1930
Estimate

 

 

 

 

ROCHET SCHNEIDER; DE DION BOUTON and MATHIS radiator for sale in Reims / France in 2022

 

 For emblems see older posts or top right (list of car makers).

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For more information about the collobaration with MATFORD please click here! 

DKW / GERMANY

DKW / ZSCHOPAU / INGOLSTADT / DÜSSELDORF / GERMANY  ( 1928 - 1966 )

One of the most successful small car manufacturers was engineer Jörg-Skafte Rasmussen, who created the German people's car “DKW” between the two world wars. The P15 with a 2-stroke engine appeared in 1928. DKW remained true to this principle until the end in 1966. The last DKW type F 102 became the first post-war AUDI in 1966.

Size	with frame 9 cm x 4.3 cm
Year	1928 - 1930
Estimate

 The emblem above is the hard to find emblem of the very first DKW car. They started the production of the type P 15  in 1928. On their motocycles you see the same emblem, but there was  a decal only. Here it is a two color enamel emblem in a frame.

 D.K.W. that  means: Dampf KraftWagen ( Steam Power Automobile ).

 Later the abbreviation was also used for: The (Das)  little  (Kleine)  Wonder  (Wunder). What a nice idea for a new car.

backside without makers mark

Once upon a time there was a DKW emblem. Victim of WWII .

DKW F15  seen in a German museum in 2023 ,

 

1928 advertisement from the new car maker DKW for the type P15

 

The next photo is showing the DKW 4=8 with the above shown badge and a mascot they used for a short time only.

photo of  the Michael Schlenger collection ( see: www.vorkriegs-klassiker-rundschau.blog )

 

 

 

 

 

1930 DKW 4=8 on a contemporary photo

 

 

 

DKW mascot for the type 4 = 8 made in 1930

 

 

 

  DKW  also exported to England:

1933 test drive and description of a DKW

DKW with front drive seen in a German museum in 2023

On DKW motorcycles, the pre-war emblems were simply painted on or applied as decals:

 

 

 

 

 

 

the same design as on the automobile P15 but here a decal only

 

When I was still a student, I bought a DKW motorcycle, model R 175 VS, and made myself a bracelet out of a fuel tank emblem:

Back to the vehicles emblems:

Do you know why these emblems have the same shape? It took me years to find out. And click here for the amazing result.

 

 

my radiator exposition with DKW 4=8  ( second from right )

 

 

For more emblems see older posts or top right of this page ( list of car makers ).
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SIMSON / SUHL / GERMANY

 SIMSON - SUHL / GERMANY  ( 1911 - 1934 )

The SIMSON & Co. factory became known for its arms production. In 1896, the company began manufacturing bicycles. Automobile production was tentatively launched in 1908. But it wasn’t until 1911 that chief designer Paul Henze succeeded in building a solid vehicle, the Type A. The Type B and C followed in 1912. Incidentally, SIMSON retained the model designation consisting solely of letters until the very end.  The owners of the company, the Jewish brothers Arthur and Julius Simson, were subjected to fabricated criminal charges as early as 1933 and fled to the United States.

In 1934, car manufacturing was discontinued, while other production continued, and SIMSON became one of the largest arms factories in the German Reich.

In 1948, the factory began producing motorcycles. On May 1, 1952, the factory was transferred to public ownership as the Simson Suhl Vehicle and Equipment Factory of the GDR. In addition to motorcycles, the factory produced mopeds, motorized bicycles, and scooters under the Simson brand. 

Even the Type A, B or C from 1912 had an emblem. I've never seen an original, but at least there is a color drawing by the Swedish artist Gustaf Moeller. Not a single vehicle of these typ has survived. But there was a drawing of the 1912 emblem, which was made by the Swedish boy Gustaf Moeller back in the 1920s. Gustaf lived near the ferry port in Helsingborg / Sweden and drew the emblems of the waiting cars there. What a great hobby that still helps and delights us a hundred years later: 

1912 radiator emblem documented in Sweden in the 1920s

 

 

With a little imagination, you can make out the rectangular emblem on the radiator of this Type B:

 

Even the 1912 models featured an attractive design

 

 In 1917 the newly designed logo was patented:

 

SIMSON vehicles became known for their quality and design. Even the chassis plate was meticulously designed, featuring the new logo and  Art Nouveau elements:

The logo shown at the top of the plate—three triangles with the letter S in the middle triangle—was patented as a trademark in 1917.

The first models bearing the dual name SIMSON SUPRA were released in 1924/1925. The following advertisement dates from the early days of the SIMSON SUPRA models:

With the introduction of the SIMSON SUPRA, the logo was also updated. Now it consists simply of a circle containing a triangle and the letter S.

 The same design was also used for the radiator mascot:

 

 

 

 

 Almost all SIMSON SUPRA vehicles had only one script on the right side of the pointed radiator:

 

script on the right side of the radiator                                                  1927 still with right hand drive

 

 

Do you see the script on the right side?

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1927 advertisement in Motor / Braunbeck; I'm not convinced by the design of this 1927 advertisement. What is the green symbol supposed to mean?

 

 

The vehicle on the left is a SIMSON SUPRA on a promotional tour in Monaco in 1928

 

 Despite the economic crisis, SIMSON launched a luxurious 8-cylinder car in 1931, but only about 30 units were sold before production was discontinued in 1934. This model didn't have a radiator emblem; instead, it had the brand logo with the script on a bar between the headlights:

 

Note the golden 8 behind the script

 

 

 

The last and most iconic model of the SIMSON SUPRA was also the only one to feature an enameled radiator emblem:

 

Size	c.  6.5 cm x 4.5 cm
Year	1931 - 1934
Estimate

 

 

Much simpler—in fact, quite basic in design—was this metal emblem, which could be seen on top of the radiator of a late-model SIMSON SUPRA:

 

 

 

What do you want more?    A script, an emblem and a mascot

 

 

 Since Simson is known to today's generation almost exclusively as a manufacturer of two-wheeled vehicles, I can't help but include a picture of a two-wheeled vehicle as well:

 

This is the end my friend: the 2002 logo

 In 2002, SIMSON Motorrad GmbH & Co. KG was forced to file for bankruptcy, and the production of vehicles (two-wheelers) under the SIMSON brand name came to a definitive end.

 

For more emblems see older posts or top right ( list of car makers ).

When using a smartphone please use the  button webview.