Manufactured by Jan Anderle, Prague
Dálník 250 Prototyp (circa 1942) 248.5cc, 9 hp, weight 120 kg.
Jan Anderle was born in 1900 in Vyškov, near Brno. After WWI he developed his skills as a pilot and also built innovative motorcycles, many of which reflected his love of flying.
Anderle's prototype dálník appeared in 1937, during the German occupation, and soon the first working model appeared, powered by a Jawa engine.
When the war ended in 1945 development halted, and Anderle returned to flying and became a prominent figure in the aviation industry. On one occasion he delivered a new aircraft to France, and took the new owner on an unauthorised trip to Africa to teach him to fly it. The communist authorities took a dim view of this, and charged him with treason (or espionage - sources vary). As a result he spent the next 15 years in prison. He was disbarred from flying in his native land.
Towards the end of the 1960s Anderle left Czechoslovakia, driving a dálník he had designed and built across much of Europe before settling in France. There he returned to flying, now in his 70s, and partnered with fellow pilot Arnold Wagner of Peraves in Switzerland to produce new vehicles. Production of these returned to the Brno region in 2009.
An original example of the Dalnik is in the collection of Národní Technické Muzeum, Prague.
Sources: GTU Oldtimerservice; Dalnik at brnoregion.com
NB. The word "Dálník" was coined by Anderle by combining "dáka" (distance) and "dálnice" (highway). It has become a generic term meaning cabin motorcycle, referred to in German as einspurauto.
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