In a final look at vehicles displayed at the Swiss Military Museum near Zurich, Phil Loder turns his attention to the MOWAG works collection
The lowest level of the Swiss Military Museum at Full-Reuenthal near Zurich houses the vehicle collection of the Motorwagenfabrik AG company. ‘Motorwagenfabrik’ literally means ‘motor vehicle factory’, but in military, police and security vehicle circles, the manufacturer is better known as MOWAG. The display includes around 50 prototypes and production models of wheeled and tracked vehicles developed by the company, both in armoured and unarmoured variants.
MOWAG was founded in Kreuzlingen in northeast Switzerland in 1946. In 1951, the company merged with Seitz and Cie AG, a local manufacturer of wagons and road vehicles which had been operating since 1850. Shortly afterwards, engineer Dr Walter Ruf took over as sole shareholder and led the company as it focused on delivering tailor-made commercial and military vehicles. During the 1950s, the main vehicle delivered to the Swiss Army was a one-tonne 4x4 truck, configured in several variants, but the company was also building buses, removal vans, iron transport trucks and post office vans. As MOWAG grew, …
