Berliner Motor Corporation
Encyclopedia
Berliner Motor Corporation was the US distributor
from the 1950s through the 1980s for several European motorcycle marques, including Ducati, J-Be, Matchless
, Moto Guzzi
, Norton, Sachs
and Zündapp
, as well as selling Metzeler
tires. Berliner Motor was highly influential as the voice of the huge American market to the motorcycle companies they bought bikes from, and their suggestions, and sometimes forceful demands, guided many decisions in Europe as to which bikes to develop, produce, or discontinue.
. He was a Hungarian Jewish refugee from the Holocaust who had spent time in Hungarian slave labor camps, and had lost 16 close family members on arrival at Auschwitz. Michael Berliner, the youngest of 5 brothers, was only saved because Joseph, and another Berliner brother, both of whom the SS intended to exploit for their skill as mechanics, convinced them that young Michael, too, was a mechanic. The Berliner brothers survived by maintaining a fleet of German army trucks. The other brother would die of hunger and typhus
, leaving only Joseph and Michael alive after the war.
Prior to the Holocaust, Joseph Berliner worked in his father's radio-bicycle-motorcycle shop, and had received schooling in mechanics and business. After the war he assisted in Jewish relief in Frankfurt, Germany, and was able to find his wife who had been liberated by the Swedish Red Cross. As the sons of a Hungarian anti-Communist World War I
war hero, the brothers feared returning to their Soviet-controlled homeland, and so emigrated
to the US.
1944
1947
1951
1957
1958
1959
1961
1963
1965
1968
1984
.
Some place Berliner Motor Corporation squarely in the camp of those who were bringing disaster, for being "dollars and cents" businessmen. Author John F. Thompson calls Joseph Berliner a man who knew more about selling motorcycles than making them, in spite of his training and years experience as a mechanic, as well as distributor and marketer. Ian Falloon is highly critical of the low-cost pushrod two- and four-stroke single-cylinder models which Berliner demanded for their American customers, calling the entire sector "oddballs" and "dubious," while acknowledging that they did sell in far larger numbers than the much more expensive and highly labor-intensive bevel and desmo engines, whose design required production-limiting processes like shimming by skilled craftsmen. Fallloon also admits that the Berliner brainchild Ducati Scrambler single was the most successful Ducati of the 60s and early 70s. On the other side, racer, dealer, and author Mick Walker is critical of the Italian executives' decision to end production of the entry-level singles and two-strokes in the 1970s, arguing, alongside the Berliners, that the brand's customer base would decline if they only catered to the demand for expensive, high-performance machines, while not also attracting new riders and earning their brand loyalty.
The Berliner Motor Corporation's obsession with entering the large and profitable US police motorcycle market against Harley-Davidson is characterized as folly for the unrealistic specification that Berliner demanded of the Ducati Apollo, yet authors like Falloon laud the Apollo for vision of this very specification. The Apollo engine, in V-twin form, would in fact become the heart of Ducatis for the following four decades. Similarly, the Berliners pushed Moto Guzzi to create a big v-twin for the American police market, and had greater success with the production of the Moto Guzzi V7. Like Ducati, this engine type would carry Moto Guzzi from those days up to the present day, and Moto Guzzi in the end found many police department customers for their version of the Berliner dream bike.
Distribution (business)
Product distribution is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. An organization or set of organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user.The other three parts of the marketing mix are product, pricing,...
from the 1950s through the 1980s for several European motorcycle marques, including Ducati, J-Be, Matchless
Matchless
Matchless is one of the oldest marques of British motorcycles, manufactured in Plumstead, London, between 1899 and 1966. A wide range of models was produced under the Matchless name, ranging from small two-strokes to 750 cc four-stroke twins...
, Moto Guzzi
Moto Guzzi
Moto Guzzi is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer. It is one of seven brands owned by Piaggio.Established in 1921 in Mandello del Lario, Italy, the company is noted for its central historic role in Italy's motorcycling manufacture, its prominence worldwide in motorcycle racing, and a series of...
, Norton, Sachs
Sachs Motorcycles
Sachs Motorcycles is a German based motorcycle manufacturer, founded in 1886 in Schweinfurt as Schweinfurter Präzisions-Kugellagerwerke Fichtel & Sachs, formerly known as Fichtel & Sachs, Mannesmann Sachs and later just Sachs....
and Zündapp
Zündapp
Zündapp was a major German motorcycle manufacturer. The company was founded in 1917 in Nuremberg by Fritz Neumeyer, together with the Friedrich Krupp AG and the machine tool manufacturer Thiel under the name "Zünder- und Apparatebau G.m.b.H." as a producer of detonators...
, as well as selling Metzeler
Metzeler
Metzeler is a German motorcycle tire company founded in 1863. Metzeler originally produced a variety of rubber and plastic products, expanding in to aviation in 1890 and automotive and motorcycle tires in 1892. The factory was destroyed in World War II and rebuilt after the war. In the 1950s and...
tires. Berliner Motor was highly influential as the voice of the huge American market to the motorcycle companies they bought bikes from, and their suggestions, and sometimes forceful demands, guided many decisions in Europe as to which bikes to develop, produce, or discontinue.
Founding
Joseph Berliner founded his motorcycle business in New York City distributing and repairing Zündapp motorcycles east of the Mississippi in 1951, using contacts with that German manufacturer he had developed before World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He was a Hungarian Jewish refugee from the Holocaust who had spent time in Hungarian slave labor camps, and had lost 16 close family members on arrival at Auschwitz. Michael Berliner, the youngest of 5 brothers, was only saved because Joseph, and another Berliner brother, both of whom the SS intended to exploit for their skill as mechanics, convinced them that young Michael, too, was a mechanic. The Berliner brothers survived by maintaining a fleet of German army trucks. The other brother would die of hunger and typhus
Typhus
Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...
, leaving only Joseph and Michael alive after the war.
Prior to the Holocaust, Joseph Berliner worked in his father's radio-bicycle-motorcycle shop, and had received schooling in mechanics and business. After the war he assisted in Jewish relief in Frankfurt, Germany, and was able to find his wife who had been liberated by the Swedish Red Cross. As the sons of a Hungarian anti-Communist World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
war hero, the brothers feared returning to their Soviet-controlled homeland, and so emigrated
Hungarian American
Hungarian Americans Hungarian are American citizens of Hungarian descent. The constant influx of Hungarian immigrants was marked by several waves of sharp increase.-History:...
to the US.
Motorcycles inspired
- Ducati ApolloDucati ApolloThe 1964 Ducati Berliner 1260 Apollo was a prototype V4 engine motorcycle producing and capable of over . It was never put into production, but did influence other production Ducatis that followed...
. Berliner Motor Corporation provided Ducati with both the "almost freakish for the time" specification and part of the financing to develop the failed, yet visionary, Ducati ApolloDucati ApolloThe 1964 Ducati Berliner 1260 Apollo was a prototype V4 engine motorcycle producing and capable of over . It was never put into production, but did influence other production Ducatis that followed...
. The detailed specification Joseph Berliner created came about because he wanted to take advantage of anti-trust rules that required police departments to consider vendors other than Harley-Davidson. To win any of this lucrative business he needed to meet all of the minimum specifications the departments had, such as a 1200 cc engine, and wanted to outperform Harley-Davidson in such areas as top speed and horsepower. - Ducati 450 R/T.
- Ducati BroncoDucati BroncoThe 125 Bronco was a tubular steel/full-duplex-framed, base model motorcycle made by Ducati from 1960 to 1966, produced mainly for American distributor Berliner Motor Corporation...
. - Ducati Scrambler.
- Norton AtlasNorton AtlasThe Norton Atlas was a Norton motorcycle made by between 1962 and 1968, until it was replaced by the Norton Commando.-Development:The Mark 1 Atlas was launched as the 750SS in the early 1960s. Designer Bert Hopwood’s 497cc Dominator engine was bored and stroked out to 745cc, via 600cc and then...
. - Norton Scrambler.
- Norton P11Norton P11The P11 was a Norton-Villiers motorcycle made from 1967 and 1969. In 1968 the P11 was upgraded to the P11A and marketed as the Norton Ranger, a road legal version of the P11 with a more comfortable seat to make it suitable for normal road use...
. - Moto Guzzi V7/Ambassador/Eldorado Moto Guzzi, like Ducati, was under pressure from the Berliner brothers to produce a Harley-DavidsonHarley-DavidsonHarley-Davidson , often abbreviated H-D or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the first decade of the 20th century, it was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression...
-style big-bore V-engined bike. It was reported that Moto Guzzi sold 5,000 Eldorados per year from 1972–1974, making it a fierce competitor to the Harley FLH. - Moto Guzzi Le MansMoto Guzzi Le MansThe Moto Guzzi Le Mans is a sports motorcycle first manufactured in 1976 by Italian company Moto Guzzi. During its lifetime it has gone through a series of changes which have meant that it is increasingly seen as a sports tourer.- 850 Le Mans :...
Timeline
1941- Joseph Berliner taken to slave labor camp.
1944
- Berliner brothers transferred to Auschwitz.
1947
- Emigrated to the US.
1951
- Distributed ZündappZündappZündapp was a major German motorcycle manufacturer. The company was founded in 1917 in Nuremberg by Fritz Neumeyer, together with the Friedrich Krupp AG and the machine tool manufacturer Thiel under the name "Zünder- und Apparatebau G.m.b.H." as a producer of detonators...
East of the Mississippi.
1957
- Took over International Motorcycle Company, where Joseph Berliner had previously been a partner, including their US distributorship of ZündappZündappZündapp was a major German motorcycle manufacturer. The company was founded in 1917 in Nuremberg by Fritz Neumeyer, together with the Friedrich Krupp AG and the machine tool manufacturer Thiel under the name "Zünder- und Apparatebau G.m.b.H." as a producer of detonators...
.
1958
- Began Ducati distributorship.
1959
- Headquarters moved from New York City to Railroad Ave. and Plant Road in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ.
1961
- Became sole Norton distributor for all US.
1963
- Became sole US MatchlessMatchlessMatchless is one of the oldest marques of British motorcycles, manufactured in Plumstead, London, between 1899 and 1966. A wide range of models was produced under the Matchless name, ranging from small two-strokes to 750 cc four-stroke twins...
distributor.
1965
- Evel KnievelEvel KnievelEvel Knievel , born Robert Craig Knievel, was an American daredevil and entertainer. In his career he attempted over 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps between 1965 and 1980, and in 1974, a failed jump across Snake River Canyon in the Skycycle X-2, a steam-powered rocket...
's new motorcycle stunt troupe secured the sponsorship of Berliner Motor Corporation, who supplied them with a fleet of Norton Scramblers. In one version of the origin of stage name "Evel Knievel," it was Bob Blair of Berliner Motor Corporation who encouraged using the nickname rather than Bobby Knievel.
1968
- Berliner Motor abruptly refused an entire shipment of over 3,000 Ducati motorcycles they had ordered, as the stocks they had on hand were not selling quickly. To get themselves off the hook from Ducati, they turned to Associated Motor CyclesAssociated Motor CyclesAssociated Motor Cycles was a British motorcycle manufacturer founded by the Collier brothers as a parent company for the Matchless and AJS motorcycle companies...
(AMC) in the UK, and used the leverage of the vast USA market they controlled, informing AMC that they would be needing no more of the struggling factory's MatchlessMatchlessMatchless is one of the oldest marques of British motorcycles, manufactured in Plumstead, London, between 1899 and 1966. A wide range of models was produced under the Matchless name, ranging from small two-strokes to 750 cc four-stroke twins...
motorcycles unless AMC found someone to purchase the unwanted Ducati shipment. The effect of Berliner's actions rippled through the UK motorcycle world, as this was a sizable flood of stock to enter the smaller, and already soft, UK market. The existing, formerly exclusive, Ducati distributor refused to sell parts to anyone whose bike had been purchased from what they saw as an illegitimate player in the field. These events are related by author Mick WalkerMick Walker (motorcycling)Mick Walker is acknowledged as one of the world's leading motorcycle authorities. Walker is a British former motorcycle dealer and racer with a particular interest in Italian motorcycles, who played a key role in popularizing the Ducati marque in Britain, but is also an expert on numerous other...
, so as to explain how Walker got his start as a Ducati dealer when he came to purchase a substantial portion of this shipment in an effort to secure parts to aid the needy population of orphaned UK Ducati owners.
1984
- Moto Guzzi distributorship changes hands to BenelliBenelli (motorcycles)Benelli is an Italian Motorcycle manufacturer owned by Chinese company Qianjiang Group. It once manufactured shotguns, although this part of the business is now a separate company.-Early history:...
/Moto GuzziMoto GuzziMoto Guzzi is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer. It is one of seven brands owned by Piaggio.Established in 1921 in Mandello del Lario, Italy, the company is noted for its central historic role in Italy's motorcycling manufacture, its prominence worldwide in motorcycle racing, and a series of...
North America. - Berliner Motor Corporation is out of business.
Influence and legacy
The Berliner company is recognized by motorcycling pundits and historians as having an influence on the manufacturers they bought bikes from in proportion to the greater size of the American market to the other markets around the world, particularly during the 1950s and 60s. There is wide agreement that "bureaucrats" and "government" are the villains when the factories failed or nearly failed (as all of brands Berliner represented did at some point), as opposed to universally praised figures such as designer Fabio TaglioniFabio Taglioni
Fabio Taglioni was an Italian engineer.Born in Lugo di Romagna, he was chief designer and technical director of Ducati from 1954 until 1989. His desmodromic L-twin design is still used in all current Ducati motorcycle engines...
.
Some place Berliner Motor Corporation squarely in the camp of those who were bringing disaster, for being "dollars and cents" businessmen. Author John F. Thompson calls Joseph Berliner a man who knew more about selling motorcycles than making them, in spite of his training and years experience as a mechanic, as well as distributor and marketer. Ian Falloon is highly critical of the low-cost pushrod two- and four-stroke single-cylinder models which Berliner demanded for their American customers, calling the entire sector "oddballs" and "dubious," while acknowledging that they did sell in far larger numbers than the much more expensive and highly labor-intensive bevel and desmo engines, whose design required production-limiting processes like shimming by skilled craftsmen. Fallloon also admits that the Berliner brainchild Ducati Scrambler single was the most successful Ducati of the 60s and early 70s. On the other side, racer, dealer, and author Mick Walker is critical of the Italian executives' decision to end production of the entry-level singles and two-strokes in the 1970s, arguing, alongside the Berliners, that the brand's customer base would decline if they only catered to the demand for expensive, high-performance machines, while not also attracting new riders and earning their brand loyalty.
The Berliner Motor Corporation's obsession with entering the large and profitable US police motorcycle market against Harley-Davidson is characterized as folly for the unrealistic specification that Berliner demanded of the Ducati Apollo, yet authors like Falloon laud the Apollo for vision of this very specification. The Apollo engine, in V-twin form, would in fact become the heart of Ducatis for the following four decades. Similarly, the Berliners pushed Moto Guzzi to create a big v-twin for the American police market, and had greater success with the production of the Moto Guzzi V7. Like Ducati, this engine type would carry Moto Guzzi from those days up to the present day, and Moto Guzzi in the end found many police department customers for their version of the Berliner dream bike.