1966 Puch 500 D

Offered by Dorotheum | Salzburg, Austria | October 16, 2021

The Puch brand existed under the Steyr–Daimler-Puch corporate umbrella and was primarily known for building motorcylces and scooters, in addition to military vehicles. There were cars, too, but for most of the time the company used its resources to build cars for other manufacturers. Occasionally, the company thought “hey, we could build this for us, too.”

And that’s what we have here. The Puch 500 is, quite obviously, a Fiat 500 built under license in Austria. It’s badged as a Puch, and they had their own range of models different than those produced by Fiat. For instance, this is a “D”, which were built between 1959 and 1967. It’s actually been tarted up to look like a 650 TR II, which was a sport model.

The 650 TR II was powered by a 40-horsepower, 660cc inline-twin. This car has just such an engine. It was built to this spec in the 2000s, with it being registered as a 650 TR II in 2011. The pre-sale estimate is $33,000-$44,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $41,404.

1993 Puch 500 GE

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Essen, Germany | March 26-27, 2020

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The civilian version of the Mercedes-Benz Geländeagen was introduced in 1979 and remains in production today looking pretty much the same. Up until 2000, the trucks were sold in Austria (and a few select other European markets) under the Puch brand.

The G-Wagen was updated in 1990, and the first V8-powered variant was introduced in 1993. It was called the 500 GE. Only 446 were produced between 1993 and 1994. Power is from a 5.0-liter V8 good for 237 horsepower. The V8 wouldn’t reappear until 1998. And, of course, MB would drop much larger, more powerful engines in these later on.

Of those 446 500 GEs, only three were Puch-branded, with this being the first. It’s finished in a great color and features a very ostentatious Puch badge on the front grille. Sure, this truck may be a footnote in the world of Mercedes vehicles, but that’s kind of what makes it interesting. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.