At the end of the twenties of the last century, this sporting machine was the top seller in Germany at the time. And the proud builders, those were the men from Imperia from Bad Godesberg. That was a team that at the time had a solid reputation and also scored well in the sporting field. And with the growing competition successes, sales also rose: The Imperia 500 H Sport was born
The Imperia 500 H Sport was not quite a loaf of bread from its own bakery, the engine block and some other parts were purchased from third parties, as was common at the time. They had designed and made the frame themselves. But the people from Bad Godesberger had a handful of the best things to buy and combine from the already extensive supply market.
The beginning
Imperia was founded in1924 in Köln-Kalk by Dr. ir. Franz Becker. The brand logo proudly displayed the Cologne Cathedral. That Dom, by the way, remained in the logo, even after Imperia had moved further south. Because in racing our dr. Becker copied his hand a little so that he had to sell his company, a situation that, incidentally, is generally only attributed to Italians ... The buyer was - in 1926 - Engineer Dr. Rolf Schroedter, who moved the brand to Bad Godesberg, not far from Cologne, where the firm would remain in 1935 until its final end. Just like the founder, the new owner took the competitive sport very seriously. Shortly after the birth of the brand, Imperia motorcycles were convincingly active in competitions. Also at very serious (international) events such as the 'Kölner Deutschlandfahrt' from 1925. A race that was 3000 km long and lasted twelve days. That kind of competitions were tough survival tests for machines (and their drivers) and the Imperia proved to be able to cope with that confrontation. A little later the Imperias also took points on the Avus and during mountain races such as the 'Eifel race'. Of course, they also participated in the then popular race track racing on cement floors.
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