Tempo! Tempo! screams the world
Tempo! Tempo! Time is money!
Don't you have a speed car?
the competition will beat you!
This was the motto in the brochure for the first Tempo delivery van.
The tax regulation, according to which vehicles with less than four wheels and a cubic capacity under 200 ccm would be license and tax-free, favoured the development of delivery ‘tricycles.’ After Carl Borgward in Bremen developed his so-called "Blitzkarten", which later became the Goliath tricycle, two Hamburg locksmiths followed in 1927 with the front loader T 1. The T stood for ‘Tempo’ and the Tempo-Werk GmbH was founded.
This type T 1 was driven by a 200cc Rinne motor. The driver sat on a motorcycle saddle behind the load area. The water-cooled two-stroke engine was started using a kick starter and produced 5 hp. The load capacity of the vehicle was 8 to 10 hundredweight according to the brochure. “The price of RM 1450, is for a complete, ready to drive transporter, with license plate, horn and all accessories.”
The series of front-loaders was continued with the following types:
T 2, 440 cc, air cooled engine.
T 6, 198 cc, 6 hp, water cooled, payload 500 kg.
T10, 349 cc, 10 HP, water cooled, payload 750 kg.
Pony, 198 cc, 6 HP, water cooled, payload 300 kg.
Max Vidal and his son Oscar took over the company in 1928 and moved to a factory building in Hamburg-Wandsbek under the name "Vidal and Son". The designer Otto Daus was hired in 1929. The types T 6 and T 10 were continued, with the T 6 being so far superior to the competition that 1,100 vehicles had been built and sold in 1930.
The T 10 was sold 1627 times in 1932 alone. The reliability of this vehicle was further demonstrated by the fact that the Romanian general representative of the company "Vidal and Son" drove the 2800 km from Hamburg to Bucharest in eight days carrying the permissible payload of 750 kg.
The Tempo plant had meanwhile built up a well-functioning dealer network at home and abroad. Tempo cars ran in Holland, Belgium, France, Scandinavia and the Balkans.
In 1933, the plant surprised its customers and the public with a new design, the Tempo Front 6, or F 6 for short. The loading area was moved to the rear and the driver sat in a cab, protected from wind and rain. The vehicle had also been equipped with front-wheel drive, i.e. one wheel in front, two wheels in the back.
Peter Mannitz
