The Puch 500 was a city car produced by the Austrian manufacturer Puch, a subsidiary of Steyr-Daimler-Puch in Graz, Austria. The company was already established building lorries and buses and in 1954 they decided to develop a small car to resume car production after the war. Their design was virtually complete when Fiat announced their new Fiat 500 which, annoyingly, looked very similar. Steyr were immediately wrong-footed as they were contracted agents for Fiat in Austria and would have been obliged to offer both cars in parallel, so a compromise was made with SDP reaching an agreement with Fiat to acquire and adapt the complete bodyshell of their 500-model.
The engine cover and the roof were produced in-house but the front axle including steering system were supplied by Fiat as was the independent suspension with wishbones and leaf springs. The great difference between the Steyr-Puch and the Fiat 500 was the completely different engine unit. The Fiat was equipped with an in-line two-cylinder engine with a long crankshaft which was not supported by a centre main bearing. The Puch 500, on the other hand, had a two-cylinder 493cc air-cooled 'boxer' engine with a short and rigid, nitrided crankshaft with three main bearings, a central camshaft, hemispherical combustion chambers, large valves and a tube-and-fin oil cooler. This unit proved to be far more smooth-running than the Fiat engine and was, crucially, quite a bit shorter enabling two back seats to be squeezed in making the Steyr-Puch 500 a genuine four-seater and when the first cars appeared in 1957, they were immediately a hit with buyers with young families.  However, the deal with Fiat had a catch. When it came to exports, the Italians were strict and didn't tolerate any competition and the number of Puchs that went abroad was limited to the countries and quantities specified by Fiat, no matter how great the demand, so it's surprising that 33 found their way to the UK.

The first facelift arrived as early as 1958 with a two-tone interior and wind-up windows and the 500D became available in 1959 substituting the full-length canvas roof of the 500 for a conventional metal one with the 'D' standing for dach (roof in German).

Silverstone Auctions are proud to offer this charming little Steyr-Puch 500D for the second time in a decade and, since being sold by us in 2014, it has resided in a Japanese collection. It’s extremely rare and believed to be one of 33 produced in right-hand drive and may just be the last remaining example outside of the Steyr-Puch museum in Austria.

It was first registered in the UK on October 21st 1960 to Ryders of Liverpool as the original UK demonstrator and stayed with its first owner for over 28 years, mainly in storage towards the end.  It then received a light restoration, which stands up remarkably well today, and looks pretty in Azzuro Chiaro, a Fiat colour that was marketed as Hellblau in Austria. It sits on wider wheels, possibly from a 650TR, although the original wheels are with the car. The mileage indicated is just below 65,000 and there appears to be a quantity of spares as well as some original manuals in the history file.

If this lot remains in the UK it will be subject to a reduced rate of import duty of 5% on the hammer price.