The millionth Pallas carburetor, 1957

This small 1957 moped carburetor is the millionth one produced under the Pallas brand. It was mounted on a pedestal for the celebration of this milestone achievement. At that time, Pallas Apparate GmbH was part of Deutsche Vergaser Gesellschaft (DVG), which, with locations in Neuss am Rhein and West Berlin, was one of the largest carburetor manufacturers in the world. Through its Solex brand, DVG became the supplier to almost all German car manufacturers. The brand name Pallas was used primarily to serve the booming motorcycle market in the post-war era.

The Pallas anniversary carburetor was on display for decades in the German Carburetor Museum, which the DVG maintained in its Berlin factory between 1958 and 1982. The museum was mainly intended for interested professionals and students from the Technische Universität (TU) Berlin, but also served as a backdrop for meetings for business associates from all over the world. Visitors were able to see around 500 objects showing the technical development of the first carburetors from the middle of the 19th century up to the present.

Carburetors for vaporizing fuel were long part of the basic equipment of gasoline engines, but have been replaced since the 1980s by modern injection systems that produce fewer pollutants. Deutsche Vergaser Gesellschaft got into difficulties due to the decline of the carburetor and was taken over by Rheinmetall AG in 1986. DVG had already closed its Berlin production site by 1981, and the collection of carburetors from its museum went to the Deutsches Technikmuseum. A selection of them can be seen in the permanent exhibition on Road Transport, “On the Move”.