EMC Motorcycles or the Ehrlich Motor Co was a British

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

manufacturer. Based in

Isleworth Isleworth ( ) is a suburban town in the London Borough of Hounslow, West London, England. It lies immediately east of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane, London, River Crane. Isleworth's original area of ...

, the business was founded by Joseph Ehrlich who emigrated to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

from

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

in the 1930s. A specialist engine tuner, Joe Ehrlich made unique

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which re ...

motorcycles. EMC stopped mass production in 1952 but Ehrlich used his knowledge of German technology to re-engineer the

DKW DKW (''Dampfkraftwagen'', – the same initials later also used for ''Des Knaben Wunsch'', ; ''Das Kleine Wunder'', and ''Deutsche Kinderwagen'', ) was a German car- and motorcycle-marque. DKW was one of the four companies that formed Auto U ...

Rennsport Ladepumpe production racers, which he developed as one-off EMC racing bikes and won several events over the next 25 years. The EMC 125 cc racer was considered among the fastest of its size in the early 1960s. Ehrlich left in 1967 and the company was wound up in 1977.

History

Dr Joseph Ehrlich was a wealthy Austrian and keen motorcycle enthusiast who became the acknowledged authority on two-stroke single racing bikes. Ehrlich moved to the UK and set up EMC after the Second World War with a factory at

. Production focused on a 350 cc

split-single In internal combustion engines, a split-single design is a type of two-stroke engine, two-stroke where two cylinders share a single combustion chamber. The first production split-single engine was built in 1918 and the design was used on several ...

motorcycle based on German engineering using two cylinders and pistons with a common combustion chamber. One cylinder housed the exhaust ports and the other the transfer ports. EMC also imported

Puch Puch () is a manufacturing company located in Graz, Styria, Austria. The company was founded in 1899 by the industrialist Johann Puch and produced automobiles, bicycles, mopeds, and motorcycles. It was a subsidiary of the large Steyr-Daimler-Puch ...

125 cc

, four-speed engines from

as there was nothing to compete in the UK market at the time. EMC Twin 1950

Dr Ehrlich worked throughout his life to improve engine performance. In 1948 he built a three-cylinder motorcycle engine that was banned from racing circuits as "too powerful". EMC racing motorcycles (and cars) were used by some of the leading riders, including

Mike Hailwood Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood (2 April 1940 – 23 March 1981) was a British racing driver and motorcycle road racer, who competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from to , and Formula One between and . Nicknamed "the Bike", Hailwood was ...

who rode an EMC to fifth place in the

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

125 cc

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

and won the 1962 Saar Grand Prix. From 1981, 250 cc EMC motorcycles won 4

Junior TT The Junior TT is a motorcycle road race that takes place during the Isle of Man TT festival; an annual event at the end of May and beginning of June. Between 1949 and 1976 this race was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. Engine ...

s at the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

and an EMC was the first 250 cc motorcycle to break the lap record. Ehrlich went on to develop

Formula 3 Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

racing cars and although he retired from EMC in 1967 his interest in racing motorcycles continued and he produced one-off 250 cc

Rotax Rotax is the brand name for a range of internal combustion engines developed and manufactured by the Austrian company BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG (until 2016 BRP-Powertrain GmbH & Co. KG), in turn owned by the Canadian Bombardier Recreational Prod ...

-engined bikes in the 1980s and his last competitive motorcycle in 1995 – when he was in his 80s. Ehrlich's experience with early two-stroke designs led to work on the 'Environmental Engine' that had variable compression and variable capacity to improve emission and fuel consumption. Potentially the future of engine technology, Josef Ehrlich died in September 2003 aged 89 without seeing his engine designs developed commercially.

Models

References

External links

EMC Image Gallery
{{British motorcycle manufacturers Defunct motorcycle manufacturers of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1946 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1946 Companies disestablished in 1977 1946 establishments in England 1977 disestablishments in England Companies based in the London Borough of Hounslow Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of England British companies disestablished in 1977

History

Models

See also

References

External links