Pannonia History

I've pieced together some of the history of the Pannonia, and the company that made them. Enjoy!

Csepel

Csepel (che´pel) is an island, 100 sq miles, 30 miles long, located in the Danube of north central Hungary, just south of Budapest. In the northern section are the city and harbor of the same name, and there is an international free port. At the time of motorcycle production, the city of Csepel was an industrial suburb of Budapest, having an ironworks and steelworks, an oil refinery, munitions factories, and a motorcycle works. The rest of the island was agricultural.

It was on this island that the largest Hungarian motorcycle factory, affiliated with the “CSEPEL Steel and Metal Company”, began building motorcycles in 1932, under the label of “CSEPEL”. The Csepel brand was used until 1951, however, until production ended in 1975, they produced motorcycles and scooters under the names Csepel, Tunde, Panni, Danuvia, White, and Pannonia.

Pannonia

In 1951 the factory was renamed “PANNONIA”, and under this name they made the TL series, T5, and the P10 motorcycles with 250cc, air-cooled two-stroke, single-cylinder engines with 16 to 18 hp. In 1970 they introduced the P20, also with a 250cc air-cooled, two-stroke engine, but it was a new twin-cylinder model producing 23 hp. These bikes did not change from their basic design of the fifties until production was stopped in 1975.

Pannonia was the most successful Hungarian motorbike but unfortunately the last one. The first model was introduced in 1954 replacing the obsolete model Csepel 250s. The last model produced was the P20. During 21 years of manufacturing, Pannonia was a very popular motorbike in Hungary and neighboring countries, including Poland. Today it is difficult to find anything in good condition.

Sidecars

Because of its low engine power only light sidecars can be attached to the Pannonia motorcycle. The weight of the sidecar mustn't exceed 140-155 pounds.

Starting in the early fifties, the shipyard Vaci Hajogyar began building sidecars for the Csepel/Pannonia motorcycles. Located on the Danube, they named their new sidecars “Duna” (Hungarian for Danube).

These were lightweight sidecars, (weighing approx. 155 pounds) with a steel-frame and a body first made of steel, and then later made of aluminum. The typical sign of the Duna sidecars was the “rocket-nose”. The production of these very elegant sidecars ended in 1975 along with the Pannonia.