Thread: Konig History

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    Team Member Smokin' Joe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Master Oil Racing Team View Post
    Wish I had a flash & done more angles, but anyway. The first three are on a riverboat on a lake in West Berlin, celebrating 50 years of Konig Motorenbau. (1927-1977). The other two are some motors at the factory.

    Very nice, Sam! I read recently that the remains of the König factory went to the Czec Republic, and that the new style motors are manufactured under the name Konny (and are sold in Atlanta).

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    Sam Cullis Mark75H's Avatar
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    Joe, I do not think that is accurate. I do not believe Konczy received anything from Konig. I also think he was making replacement parts for his east block friends while Konig was still in operation and expanded after Peter shut Konig down.

    As I understand it, Konny is the successor to the design, but not the tooling, its a copy, not a continuation.
    Since 1925, about 150 different racing outboards have been made.


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    Default Crescent 500cc designer

    Quote Originally Posted by Mark75H View Post
    I just read on another source that the 3 cylinder Crescent was designed by Konig. This is not correct. The Crescent was completely designed in house in Sweden in direct competition with Konig.

    The later Volvo F3 engine was a collaboration with much of it from Konig.
    The three cylinder Crescent 500cc was sketched, outlined, of a German Diploma engineer Hans Müller and then developed by a team in house. Some leading team members: Gösta Stillerud, Carl-Eric Zander and Thure Ċkerfeldt.

    Henry

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark75H View Post
    Joe, I do not think that is accurate. I do not believe Konczy received anything from Konig. I also think he was making replacement parts for his east block friends while Konig was still in operation and expanded after Peter shut Konig down.

    As I understand it, Konny is the successor to the design, but not the tooling, its a copy, not a continuation.
    Sam, you're probably right.

    joe

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    David Weaver David Weaver's Avatar
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    Default As I recall

    Quote Originally Posted by Mark75H View Post
    Joe, I do not think that is accurate. I do not believe Konczy received anything from Konig. I also think he was making replacement parts for his east block friends while Konig was still in operation and expanded after Peter shut Konig down.

    As I understand it, Konny is the successor to the design, but not the tooling, its a copy, not a continuation.
    Ralph Donald and Ed Thirlby, Sr. went to Berlin shortly after the factory shutdown. They were hoping to purchase castings, tools, etc. but were not successful. I am afraid much of equipment went into the trash heap or was scrapped. Ashame, as there individuals with an interest in acquiring the equipment.

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    Default Crescent Designer

    Quote Originally Posted by OA57 View Post
    The three cylinder Crescent 500cc was sketched, outlined, of a German Diploma engineer Hans Müller and then developed by a team in house. Some leading team members: Gösta Stillerud, Carl-Eric Zander and Thure Ċkerfeldt.

    Henry
    interesting - that might be the same Mr Müller (from Andernach, some 60km South of Cologne) who designed the DKW 2 and 3 cylinder engines, and later that DKW V6 which was in development at Heinkel in the first half of the `60s.
    Did not at least out of the Swedish team Carl-Eric Zander also race the motors? By the way, the first time the Crescent team came to the Essen Ba;ldeney-See race, Angelo Molinari (father of Renato and Georgio) was there with a very early "high legged" catamaran with a 55H with standard lower unit (obviously not in C hydro). He was blindingly quick, till the lu succumbed to the rough water, as did a lot of the boats in C. That might have been in `62. rgds, Wolfgang

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    Quote Originally Posted by David Weaver View Post
    Ralph Donald and Ed Thirlby, Sr. went to Berlin shortly after the factory shutdown. They were hoping to purchase castings, tools, etc. but were not successful. I am afraid much of equipment went into the trash heap or was scrapped. Ashame, as there individuals with an interest in acquiring the equipment.
    The guess I made too hastily below was also wrong, parts and machines are still there in the factory.


    Trash heap is probably right, most likely. That's also what's happening to OMC motors in Germany. Have talked with two outboard repair shops in south Germany recently (visited one), the rumors against Evinrude here are similar to those that OMC dealers concocted against Kiekhaefer in the 1950s. First, I was told you can't get parts for an OMC beyond 1996. I told the owner where parts can be found going back into at least the 1950s. A second shop owner (Suzuki dealer) told me Bombardier is a huge concern sells, trains, etc, has no interest in Evinrude, only wanted Ficht injection for snowmobiles. The dealer sells Suzuki and when he said to my German wife (in German) 'we look over there for good oil, etc.', she said 'you mean the U.S.', he said 'no, over there means Japan now'. There's an element of truth in all the rumors. You can try to find an Evinrude dealer via the internet in Germany/Austria and it ain't easy. They're few and far between, generally don't stock motors (or oil), and are not easy to find. I have yet to see an E Tec motor here, in spite of the fact that all E Tecs produced in the U.S. now have "EU Emissions Standard" or something similar written on the downhousing. I do see Mercury but mainly Yamaha, mainly 4 stroke. Anti-pollution laws have helped kill 2 stroke motors here, none but the E Tec (new) are now allowed. The other killing factor was the collapse of OMC and the failure of Bombardier to keep the dealer net. I called the two outboard repair shops searching for older OMCs to buy and restore. the first shop THREW AWAY (junk) 20 last nov. because he couldn't get parts. Bombardier is outrageous here: an '86 carb for 30hp that costs $300 new in the U.S. costs 600 Euros here, that's $840. A Nürnberg boat shop sells Sierra parts, has a decent stock, but I fear that he's whistling into the wind. He's friendly, gave me dealer status for buying a kill switch ... .

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    Sam Cullis Mark75H's Avatar
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    Bombardier is a huge concern sells, trains, etc,
    The BIG Bombardier is not the same company as BRP ... they split
    Since 1925, about 150 different racing outboards have been made.


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    Sam Cullis Mark75H's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wolfgang View Post
    Did not at least out of the Swedish team Carl-Eric Zander also race the motors?
    Yes, Carl-Eric raced them and set some speed records

    Other than the fact that they were not designed by Konig we should split the Crescent stuff off to its own thread, as there is a lot of interest in them. I have done in depth research and have a lot of notes about them and their development ... and apparently we have members with new information to contribute that we all would like to see and learn.
    Since 1925, about 150 different racing outboards have been made.


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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark75H View Post
    The BIG Bombardier is not the same company as BRP ... they split

    Good point, when did they split? But still, their dealer net, exposure, in Germany and Austria is nearly nil. That the E-Tec qualifies for use on Bodensee (highly restrictive area) is hardly of use if there are no dealers and no motors. Furthermore, I can supply OMC or BRP parts here cheaper, even paying customs and post from the U.S., than a customer can buy them from BRP in Europe, if the customer can manage to locate BRP Europe.

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