I recently bought a really goofy motorcycle model, and I can’t quite figure it out.
Some background first: It’s called the Red XXXXXX Killer, and is made by Revell of Germany. Apparently in Germany there’s a comic called “Werner”, which occasionally (or constantly?) delves into gearhead stuff, and apparently this motorcycle appeared in the strip, and apparently someone actually went out and built a real one, and apparently the model is a model of the real thing.
So anyway, it’s powered by four Horex engines, all synchronized. Hmmm. I can’t quite figure out the spirit, if you will, of this thing; whether it’s a parody or half serious.
My questions:
Is the Horex a real motorcycle? Is it a good motorcycle, held in high repute, or kind of a joke?
In other words, is this model the motorcycle equivalent of a dragster with four Briggs & Stratton lawnmower engines, or four Chrysler Hemis?
If anyone can tell me something about the “Werner” strip, I’d appreciate it. It does appear, from the odd spellings in some dialog balloons in the kit instructions, that Werner speaks with an accent of some kind.
I found a homepage, but it’s mostly incomprehensible. I suppose I could eventually translate the German, but even then I suspect I’d miss the point.
Horex is a defunct motorcycle brand (built 1923-1956). The manufacturer became part of Daimler-Benz in 1960.
Werner’s Horex is named “Red Porsche Killer” in the comic - it seems Revell was afraid of Porsche’s lawyers…
The author of the comic strip had the 4-engine cycle built for real in 1985, for a race against a Porsche. Detail photograph here - rearch for “Red Porsche Killer” on the page; the photograph is to the right then.
Horex is a defunct motorcycle brand (built 1923-1956). The manufacturer became part of Daimler-Benz in 1960.
Werner’s Horex is named “Red Porsche Killer” in the comic - it seems Revell was afraid of Porsche’s lawyers…
The author of the comic strip had the 4-engine cycle built for real in 1985, for a race against a Porsche. Detail photograph here - search for “Red Porsche Killer” on the page; the photograph is to the right then.
Sigh. Anyway here is a page on the real Red Porsche Killer. The race against the Porsche apparently only happened in 1988, with 200,000 spectators. The Porsche finished in second but last place.
Werner is a young North German plumber (hence the accent) who always gets into trouble at work (and when a plumber gets into trouble the results are quite graphic.) He is the terror of the roads on his motorcycle. The comic celebrates young-male-working-class high spirits, defying authority (cops etc.) and consuming large quantities of beer (Flensburg beer, not the weak Bavarian stuff).
A company using the Horex name made a 125 for a few years in the 90s. For a moment I wondered if he used four of those engines but (sigh) it only turns out to be four '55 500s.
Thanks for the background and links; very interesting. Werner sounds like a couple guys I used to know!
Once I knew it was really the Red Porsche Killer, Google came up with lots of stuff, including lots of pics and even a nice page talking about building the model. True, it was in German, but the pics were informative…