1952 Zündapp KS601 'Green Elephant', Registration no. not UK registered Frame no. 35-2475 Engine no. 35-2475

Important Collectors' Motorcycles and Spares
1952 Zündapp KS601 'Green Elephant'
Registration no. not UK registered
Frame no. 35-2475
Engine no. 35-2475
Founded at the height of WWI to manufacture armaments, Zündapp found a new role post-war as a motorcycle producer, building its first machine, a Levis-powered two-stroke, in 1921. The firm began making its own engines in 1924, and at the Berlin Motor Show in 1933 introduced the first of the horizontally opposed, four-stroke twins that it is best remembered for. These formed part of an extensive and diverse range of models, all but the smallest two-stroke being designated by the letter 'K' (for kardan, meaning 'shaft'). Among the models premiered was a brace of sidevalve flat-twins, both of which employed designer Richard Küchen's unconventional all-chain four-speed 'gearbox' and shaft final drive. Immediately prior to the outbreak of war in September 1939, Zündapp introduced an overhead-valve twin, the KS600, which featured the Küchen transmission, a pressed steel frame, and similar girder forks. Revived, albeit briefly, a few years after the end of WW2, it was replaced early in 1951 by the KS601, which employed a broadly similar engine/transmission in a conventional tubular steel frame with telescopic front fork. The KS601 was Germany's fastest roadster at the time of its introduction.

Offered from a private collection, this KS601 appears to have been restored relatively recently. Prospective purchasers should satisfy themselves with regard to this motorcycle's originality, correctness, and mechanical condition prior to bidding. There are no documents with this Lot, which is sold strictly as viewed.