A Brief History of the Marque
The company from Augsburg-Oberhausen began producing bicycles in 1890 and in 1898 entered the automotive field, producing motorised tricycles which resembled those of De Dion-Bouton under the brands Heinle & Wegelin, Vindelica and P.T.S. The designer of these machines was Oskar Blessing, based on a design by Ludwig Rüb. Blessing also built motor bicycles under his own name.
It is said these vehicles were offered in Great Britain as the Liliput. Certainly the Heinle & Wegelin was offered in the UK as the P.T.S. by Patents Trading Syndicate, London.
The firm failed towards the end of 1900 due to the economic crisis which began that year.
In 1906, the name became Motorfahrzeugwerke Heinle & Weiß (Kaufmann Karl Heinle and Karl Weiß). The factory and its contents were entirely destroyed by fire, and the firm entered bankruptcy in the second half of 1908.
More information: Innovations 1890s
Sources: Axel Oskar Mathieu Archive, et al.
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