- Founded
- 1921 – 1926
- Country
- Romania
In 1921 the Arad wagon works founded by Johann Weitzer merged with the former MARTA automobile operation to form Astra Automobile & Waggon Factory. The absorbed motor works became Astra's Motor Factory and from 1922 built Astra-badged trucks, buses, utility vehicles, municipal street sprinklers and a few commissioned passenger cars. The latter used unusually large four-cylinder engines reported at eight litres and 60 hp. Gasoline and methane engines were both within the works' capability. Road-vehicle production ended in 1926 as machinery and expertise shifted toward Romania's developing aircraft industry, while the parent operation concentrated on railway rolling stock. Pre-merger Westinghouse-, Austro-Daimler- and MARTA-badged vehicles remain separate lineages.
Text adapted from “Astra (Arad)” on Wikipedia ↗ · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗