Horex is a German motorcycle company first established back in the early 1920’s by the son of Friedrich Kleemann, the financial manager at a preservative jar manufacturing business based in Bad Homburg, Germany. Kleemann purchased Columbus Motorenbau AG, a relatively small motor production factory and operation. Three years later Kleemann’s son, Fritz – an avid racing enthusiast – founded Horex-Fahrzeugbau AG., with the company’s name being derived form combining the name of his hometown with the name of his father’s jar company’.
Fritz was making his own 248cc OHV Horex racers powered by GNOM engines – which were tested and raced by Fritz himself – prior to Horex merging with Columbus Motorenbau in 1925. Horex would develop a handful of models powered by Columbus singles before adding a pair of parallel-twins to its lineup in ’33, which included the marque’s largest engine thus far, an 800cc. Business continued until the dawn of the second World War which would result in the operation temporarily shutting down.
Following the war, Horex would reopen its doors and resume production, offering a new 350cc single in ’48 and then a new 500cc OHC parallel-twin model in ’51 known as the Imperator. Four years later Horex would add a 400cc variant of the Imperator. The Imperator 400 would see a five-year production run between 1955-60. The 400cc, air-cooled, four-stroke, parallel-twin engine made a claimed 26 hp at 6,790rpm and was married to a four-speed transmission with chain final drive.
The 400 came from the factory with 190mm drum brakes – fore and aft, dual rear shocks, and Earles forks up front, all sitting on a pair of 18-inch spoked wheels. In total the German scoot reportedly weighed in at 432lbs, though I’m not sure if this is a wet or dry figure. The Imperator also boasted other standard features such as a chromed exhaust system, analogue instrumentation dials, a 4.5-gallon tank, and a two-up bench seat.
In the final years of the 400cc Horex’s production run, the German offering was bored out to 452cc’s, and then sold to Zundapp which would turn around and sell the machine under the name “Citation” (which was supposedly named after a famous Triple Crown race horse). On a semi-related note; AMA Motorcycle Museum Hall of Famer Floyd Clymer reportedly tried selling the Horex/Zundapp under the Indian Motorcycle name after Indian had some major financial troubles in the early 1950’s. Clymer was one of a handful of individuals who would step up and offer monetary assistance to help keep the American marque afloat.
Clymer tried to get the brand back on its feet by purchasing the rights to myriad of foreign-made models which he then tried to sell under the Indian brand, largely to no avail, with one of those foreign models being the Imperator 500. Eventually Horex would go out of business, but it was revived a few years back in 2010 before again going under a handful of years later. Race legend, Friedl Münch, also picked up a lot of his skills and know-how in the Horex race shop prior to developing a multiple Münch models including the Mammoth 1200 TTS.
The ad for this particular 1960 Horex 400 that is currently for sale offers very little info, but the pictures speak for themselves to some extent. The example is complete and seemingly pretty original, though it’s definitely on the weathered-side and there’s no word on its mechanical condition. Having said that, a restoration would go a long way on this one.
You can find this 1960 Horex Imperator 400 (with Italian papers) for sale here on RaceBikeMart.com in Germany with a price of $15,500.