Mid-nineteenth-century industrialist Steyr-Daimler-Puch was born in Austria. Known as a small arms manufacturer, they soon began producing much more for Austria. The “Austro Daimler,” built in 1905, was their first armored vehicle, and several other models would follow. Civilian vehicle manufacturing started after they hired legendary auto designer Hans Ledwinka. By 1934 the company coalesced with Austro-Daimler-Puch to form Steyr-Daimler-Puch. With the end of world war two, Steyr’s momentum didn’t change, and they became well known for producing off-road vehicles and even motorcycles. Pieces of the conglomerate slowly began to be sold off, including the military vehicle branch of the company going to General Dynamics European Land Combat Systems in 2003.