One CR member told me it is almost like a Vent Noir, maybe just different finishes and components. I have very little recolllection of the AD models in the old bike shop I worked at. But, I never saw an Ultima, maybe a Superleicht briefly. The $3000 is a large figure, but seems most people boost prices. Or perhaps maybe he added "labor costs" into the mix for revamping this or that.
I don't think AD was associated with Steyr and Puch until after 82 or so. I remember seeing the Puch headbadge after they collaberated, but must have been 83 or 84 at least (old Bicycling mags coming out then). Steyr most definitely is a fine firearms manufacturer, and perhaps when they collaborated with Puch (mopeds) they tried that marketing angle to help (how?) importing their guns. Gun Control Act Of 1968 was a problem for many Euro gun manufacturers, and still stands today. I can post the question to a gun collectors newsgroup of mine and see if any soul has that knowledge out there. But, I bet you read or saw that somewhere, since stuff like that always pops into my head from the past.
Tony "If nobody saw me, I'd take a spin on a moped!" Zanussi Snow/Ice choked KCMO
<<The seller doesn't list the model name, but the finish and components lead me to think it's a Superleicht. Superleichts were second in the line, just under the Team bike, the Ultima. I have an '82 Superleicht just like this one, and a catalog from 1984 which sets the price at $1400. That's not cheap, but it's nowhere near the $3grand this seller claims to have invested.
They're nice bikes, the workmanship is decent - the plating shows every joint and all the tool marks. The mitering in the bottom bracket is nothing to rave about, though.
If you look closely at the poor photos of this example, you'll notice the top tube is relatively level and that the bottom bracket slopes down from the rear wheel. These bikes have a nice low bottom bracket. It's also interesting that A/D was using 130mm spacing long before the advent of 8 speed components, my bike has it, as did the other early eighties Puchs and A/Ds I've owned and worked on. - Oh yes, this is a Puch-A/D, the merged branding seen in the later years before Puch sold out to the Italians (Bianchi), who killed the marque.
Rumor has it that Austro Daimler's primary interest in importing bicycles into this country was based on a desire to sell firearms here - the parent company Steyr Daimler Puch was producing Steyr weaponry. Unconfirmed, but interesting to me... Anyone know more about this?
Anyway, with a starting bid of $400, a claimed investment of $3K and an unknown reserve, I'd guess that his price than market value for the bike. I paid $600 for mine in '94, it was virtually unridden and bone stock. I'll be curious to see where it goes.
This is rather like the Campy equipped Lotus - worth no more than the sum of it's parts.
Ed.??