The brand-name “Ardie“ derived from the name of the company founder, Arno Dietrich, who started the motorbike factory in 1919 in Nuremberg. Up to 1958 Ardie built utility bikes with one- and two-cylinder-engines, mostly with capacities up to 500 ccm, using both in-house developments as well as installation engines, e.g. by JAP. As many other manufacturers of motorcycles Ardie had to discontinue production in the late 1950s.