GRÄF & STIFT / AUSTRIA

 GRÄF & STIFT / AUSTRIA  ( 1905 - 1971 )

Wilhelm Sift and his son Willy had established business contacts with the three brothers Gräf after the foundation of the not very successful company "Celeritas" in order to found a new automobile factory. In 1906 they brought out the first car of their own design. In 1914, the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot dead in a Gräf & Stift on the open road. In the twenties, several 6-cylinder and one 8-cylinder car were built. In the thirties Citroen and Ford models were built under license. The production of passenger cars was abandoned in 1938 due to the lack of success in favor of truck production.

And here is  the first enameled radiator emblem:

                                                 emblem and chassis plate in one

Size	14.5 cm x 5.5 cm
Year	c. 1912- 1914
Estimate

backside with makers mark from ALFRED STÜBBE BERLIN (!)

1907 advertisement: no automobile, no emblem, only letters !

early hubcap emblem still with the Austrian eagle

1911 review of the GRÄF & STIFT with technical details and the radiator

To my knowledge a new designed emblem was introduced in 1920:

In the middle of the emblem you see  the Roman I in a cercle as a sign of its self-awareness

Size	15.0 cm x  6.0 cm (emblem only)
Year	1920 - 1954
Estimate

There were quite a lot of different versions:

original emblem with here with opaque red

next version with opaque blue enamel

backside with makers mark from: STÖGER WIEN VII

another version with black enamel ( collection Murray Shears )

made with gray enamel. Unfortunately, the emblem was unprofessionally detached.

GRÄF & STIFT also sold a lot of vehicles to Germany. Here you see the type  SR2 in Berlin in 1921

GRÄF & STIFT before the German parliament ( Reichstag ) in 1921 photo collection M. Schlenger

early hubcap with emblem showing the new invented number " I "

In 1923 this color advertisment is showing a green emblem, never seen in reality

1927 GRÄF & STIFT street cleaning truck in Vienna

another hubcap emblem

In 1928 you saw this new GRÄF & STIFT emblem in a german magazine, I think that it was never realized

In 1934 / 35  GRÄF & STIFT built the CITROEN ROSALIE in licence, therefore the Citroen sign in the middle of the emblem:

 "moteur flottant " means:  floating power

Floating power was a new technology and means the attaching of a motor to its chassis with the intention to reduce vibrations.

And this is where the center piece of the GRÄF & STIFT emblem comes from :

original  CITROEN radiator emblem

 

The GRÄF & STIFT Type MF6,  a CITROEN licence had this particular mascot

After WWII GRÄF & STIFT continued to built trucks only.

In my opinion, this mascot here is the highlight in the history of GRÄF & STIFT:

Size	15.0 cm x 20.0 cm
Year	1954
Estimate	with base and perfect emblem

This is a giant three-dimensional representation of the famous lion as a front emblem.

Size	20.0  cm x 29.0 cm
Year	c. 1960- 1966
Estimate

The next development step: the front emblem becomes flatter, but is still three-dimensional:

Size	19.5 cm
Year	c 1967 - 1970
Estimate

The last GRÄF & STIFT truck front emblem was made in plastic, but still impressive.

Size	18.5 cm x 14.5 cm
Year	c. 1970 - 71
Estimate

Also a lion, but from BÜSSING,  not to be confused with GRÄF & STIFT shown above.

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

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