Austro-Daimler: Porsche-Designed Tractors

A-zug, Austro Daimler, B-zug, C-zug, Ferdinand Porsche, M17-80hp, Rabe, Zugwagen M12 In July 1906, 30-year-old Ferdinand Porsche, who had previously worked for the small Austrian company Lohner, joined Austro-Daimler as chief engineer. He brought with him his development of the so-called “mixed or hybrid drive”—the Mixte: an internal combustion engine that only drove a generator, which generated current to power the traction electric motors. That same year, 1906, Austro-Daimler gained complete independence from the German company Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft and began developing its own original designs. By this time, the company had built the 60/80PS (4×4) artillery tractor, or M06, with an 80-horsepower engine and individual cardan drives for each drive and steering wheel. It was designed by Archduke Leopold Salvator of Habsburg-Lothringen, and hence these vehicles are known as “Daimler-Salvator.” In 1908–09, further developments of this design resulted in the 80-horsepower M08 and M09 (4×4) tractors in various versions, named Bison, Jaguar, and Wisent. The heaviest, 90-horsepower Goliath, was equipped with a crane and repair equipment. M09 (4×4)