Registration No: 593 XWA
Frame No: 079272
Engine No: 8080788
CC: 150
MOT: Exempt

• MZ150 engined Iron Curtain scooter
• Extremely rare scooter in the UK
• Supplied with manuals and a V5C

Industriewerke Ludwigsfelde (IWL) was established by the Daimler-Benz company in 1936 to make DB 600 aero engines for new Luftwaffe bomber and fighter aircraft. After the Second World War many European manufacturers, particularly aircraft manufacturers, diversified into other products including motor scooters. In Italy, Piaggio launched the Vespa in 1946 closely followed by Innocenti's launch of the Lambretta in 1947. The IWL factory near Berlin, now behind the Iron Curtain, noticed the same demand for cheap motorised transport and was chosen by the DDR communist government to satisfy this need. IWL began to develop a scooter but it was 1955 before they had a MZ engined model available for sale and by 1959 this had evolved into the SR59 Berlin using the latest MZ RT123 engine with added fan cooling, at last giving riders in the DDR a scooter that was good enough for practical use.

This extremely rare IWL SR59 Berlin was recently imported from Germany and has been issued with a UK registration number and V5C document. An unusual scooter that is typical of the bigger scale heavy duty models produced in West Germany in the 1950s and 1960s and based very much on products like the Zundapp Bella, it will really stand out from the crowd on scooter rallies. In an effort to save weight many parts are cast aluminium, including the footboards, and the headlamp cowling is GRP. The vendor has just fitted electronic ignition to aid starting. It will come supplied with copies of various adverts and an owner’s manual and even a copy of a 2010 Scootering magazine comparing the scooter to a similar era Lambretta.

For more information, please contact:
Ian Cunningham
ian.cunningham@handh.co.uk
07415871189