KARNAN  |  1956  |  Sweden  :

AB Ernst O. Jönsson, informally known as Cykelfabriken Kärnan, began manufacturing cycles in 1901 from a workshop at Drottninggatan 102 in Helsingborg. The business, which also covered machine and motor components, expanded continuously, relocating around 1904 to Norra Storgatan 9 and again in 1907 to Kullagatan 26, a building that had housed a sugar refinery in the 1820s. Ernst O. Jönsson died in 1914, and the business passed to his brother Ragnar. Turnover continued to rise, and in 1927 a larger industrial property at the Gåsebäck industrial area was acquired, where lightweight motorcycles and mopeds were subsequently produced alongside semi-finished components such as crankshaft bearings and frames.

Kärnans Cykelfabrik built mopeds using ABG engines in a variety of configurations and also built a scooter using Flink engines. The 1952 range offered both a ladies’ model priced at 680 kronor and a gents’ model at 685 kronor. A scooter-moped variant fitted with a Flink clip-on engine was also attempted, though production numbers were likely small. From 1953, a model fitted with a JB engine appeared, sharing its frame with the Örnen Model 50. In 1954, Kärnan adopted the Expresswerke Express M52 engine from Neumarkt, Nuremberg, and that engine continued into 1955 when new frame configurations appeared. By 1956, the same updated frame was fitted with the NSU Quickly engine. A model using an NSU Quickly engine was produced in 1956.

The factory employed around 100 people and continued producing cycles, lightweight motorcycles, and mopeds until operations ceased in 1966.