# Ardie

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{{short description|German motorcycle manufacturer}}

thumb|Ardie
thumb|1952 10 bhp Ardie
'''Ardie''' was a company in [Nürnberg](/source/N%C3%BCrnberg), [Germany](/source/Germany) that manufactured [motorcycles](/source/motorcycles) from 1919 until 1958. The company's name derives from that of its founder, '''Ar'''no '''Die'''trich.<ref name="ardie">{{cite book |editor1-last=Mirco De Cet |title=The Illustrated Directory of Motorcycles |date=2002 |publisher=Salamander Books |location=London |isbn=1-55267-257-3 |pages=30-37 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781552672570/page/n5/mode/2up |chapter=Ardie}}</ref>

At first Ardie made motorcycles with its own 305cc and 348cc single [cylinder](/source/Cylinder_(engine)) [two-stroke engine](/source/two-stroke_engine)s. Dietrich was killed in a racing accident in 1922, and the company was taken over by the Bendit company. In 1925 the [company](/source/company) switched to using engines from [JAP](/source/JA_Prestwich_Industries_Ltd) in [London, England](/source/London%2C_England), that ranged from 246cc through 996cc. Their specifications included one of the earliest uses of aluminum-alloy frames on a mass-produced motorcycle. In the 1930s Ardie switched again to engines made by the German companies Bark, [Kūchen](/source/K%C5%ABchen) and Sachs.<ref name="ardie"/>

In 1930, Ardie President Willy Bendit assigned German engineer [Josef Ganz](/source/Josef_Ganz) to build a prototype of a small [Volkswagen](/source/Volkswagen) according to his design. This [Ardie-Ganz](/source/Ardie-Ganz) prototype was finished in September 1930 and achieved highly successful road-test results. The car featured a tubular chassis, mid-mounted engine, and [independent wheel suspension](/source/Independent_suspension) with [swing-axles](/source/Swing_axle) at the rear.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

In 1936 the company returned to making motorcycles with two-stroke engines of its own manufacture. During the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War) the company made a model with Ardie's own design of 350cc twin-cylinder [side-valve](/source/Flathead_engine) [four-stroke engine](/source/four-stroke_engine).{{cn|date=February 2024}} After the war the company was taken over the Durkoop factory and made a range of single and twin-cylinder machines ranging from 122cc to 344cc.<ref name="ardie"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110323015104/http://www.ardie.de/Homepage/IG_Termine/ig_termine.html Ardie Owners' Club]
*[http://www.meisterdinger.de/ardie/index.htm ''Meisterdinger von Nürnberg'' Ardie webpages]

{{Major German motorcycle manufacturers}}
{{Authority control}}

Category:Defunct motorcycle manufacturers of Germany
Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1919
Category:Manufacturing companies based in Nuremberg

{{Motorcycle-manufacturer-stub}}
{{Germany-manufacturing-company-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ardie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardie) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardie?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.