ÖAF is an

initialism An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

for Österreichische Automobil-Fabrik (literally ''Austrian automobile factory''), previously known as Österreichische Austro-Fiat, an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n (Austro-Hungarian) car and truck manufacturer that now is completely incorporated into MAN.

Austro-Fiat

ÖAF was created by

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

in 1907 and is now part of the German MAN group. The manufacture of automobiles began in the new plant built for the occasion in Vienna in 1908, while the number was only 50 employees. A truck of 4 tonnes, similar to the Italian Fiat model was manufactured from 1911. It was originally Austro-Fiat, which during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

began to develop their own products. In 1925 the Austro-Fiat brand expired and the company became Osterreichische Automobil Fabrik AG, under the abbreviation ÖAF, with preservation of the trademark filed earlier. Also in 1925, a separate company took over sales of Italian Fiat cars, and Austro-Fiat became affiliated with

Austro-Daimler Austro-Daimler was an Austro-Hungarian automaker company, from 1899 until 1934. It was a subsidiary of the German ''Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft'' (DMG) until 1909. Early history In 1890, Eduard Bierenz was appointed as Austrian retailer. The com ...

and Puch. The last private car, Type 1001A, was different from the earlier Type 1001, having engines and conventional rear axles. The latest model Fiat's truck was TS 1924, equipped with a Fiat engine. The company began production of other models in Austria, which has enabled the company to begin developing its own models. The most popular submitted in 1925 was the AFN light truck AFN with 1.75 tons of payload. This truck used a 42 hp 4 Cylinder Fiat engine 2850 cc, it also used gimbals and real tires, not solid tires, which allowed for a speed of 65 km/h. In 1928, the AF2 appeared and the following year a bus called the Austro-Fiat-1001. It is from this time that the company discontinued the manufacture of passenger cars to concentrate on commercial vehicles, trucks, vans and buses. This allowed the AFL/AFY to be manufactured from 1930 to 1937.

MAN acquisition

GuentherZ 2008-10-20 1176 Bundesheer OeAF

In 1938, when Austria was annexed by the Third Reich, German MAN obtained the majority of shares owned by Fiat in ÖAF, reducing the Italian firm's share to 15%. ÖAF had begun equipping some of its trucks with diesel engines from MAN in 1934. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Floridsdorf factory was in the Russian zone and the plants were used for Russian

reparations Reparation(s) may refer to: Christianity * Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation * Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin History *War reparations **World War I reparations, made from G ...

. In 1955, ÖAF was released from these payments and the factory began producing trucks again. They went to Austria to build military trucks but the Austrian army eventually selected rival

Steyr Steyr (; Central Bavarian: ''Steia'') is a statutory city, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. It is the administrative capital, though not part of Steyr-Land District. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and the 3rd l ...

for its famous Pinzgauer. Only 136 examples of ÖAF's challenger, the Husar, were built between 1967 and 1969. The ÖAF Tornado was a greater success becoming the best-selling truck in Austria. In 1970, the company was privatized again; MAN then let it merge with Gräf & Stift, out of which ÖAF Gräf & Stift arose which in 1971 was fully taken over by MAN. Beginning with the Moskvitch in 1958, ÖAF also acted as Austrian importers of many Russian-made automobiles, including the Lada and the GAZ Volga. In 1982 they also took over the

Škoda Škoda means ''pity'' in the Czech and Slovak languages. It may also refer to: Czech brands and enterprises * Škoda Auto, automobile and previously bicycle manufacturer in Mladá Boleslav ** Škoda Motorsport, the division of Škoda Auto respons ...

agency, which they held until 1992 when new owners

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

replaced them. In 1988 they begun importing American

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

automobiles, but as of July 1993 the company sourced out automotive imports to a new company. In 2001 MAN renamed the ÖAF Gräf & Stift company MAN Sonderfahrzeuge AG, as part of reorganizations following its June 2001 acquisition of

Neoplan Neoplan Bus GmbH is a German automotive company that manufactures buses, trolleybuses and coaches. It is a subsidiary of MAN Truck & Bus SE. History Foundations The company was founded by Gottlob Auwärter in Stuttgart in 1935, and ma ...

. In 2004 the company was renamed MAN Nutzfahrzeuge Österreich AG. All MAN vehicles in Austria could be ordered with an ÖAF-badged grille until 2008, when the ÖAF marque was finally abandoned. MAN continues to manufacture trucks at the former Liesing ÖAF site though, but the company is now named MAN Truck & Bus Österreich GesmbH and manufactures and sells all its products as MAN.

Vehicles

File:TornadoAlt.jpg, ÖAF Tornado 19-230 File:ÖAF Tornado 16.192.jpg, ÖAF Tornado 16-192 with Trilex-Felgen File:ÖAF 19 186.jpg, ÖAF Tornado 19-186 File:ÖAF 19 192.jpg, ÖAF Tornado 19-192 File:ÖAF9256.JPG, ÖAF Tornado 9256 File:ÖAF Husar.jpg, ÖAF Husar File:ACTS3.jpg, MAN with ÖAF-Grille File:ÖAF light wheeled tank-prototype from 1977.JPG, 1977 ÖAF light wheeled vehicle

References

* Hans Seper: Von Austro Fiat zu ÖAF – Gräf und Stift AG * Bruner, Reitgruber: Hundert Jahre Fahrzeugbau in Wien. Wien 2001, Verein zur Förderung historischer Kraftfahrzeuge der Österrr. Automobilfabriken ÖAF-Gräf & Stift AG * Karl-Heinz Rauscher: Von Fiat Wien zu MAN Nutzfahrzeuge Österreich. Wien 2008 * "Austro-Fiat", in

G.N. Georgano George Nicolas "Nick" Georgano (29 February 1932 – 22 October 2017Nick Georgano
Alvis Archive Bl ...

, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars 1885-1968 (New York: E.P. Dutton and Co., 1974).

External links

Official Website
- MAN web site (German)
Verein zur Förderung der historischen Fahrzeuge der österreichischen Automobilfabriken
(in German)
Großauftrag der britischen Armee
(in German) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oaf Defunct companies of Austria Truck manufacturers of Austria Fiat