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Australian Made Ciné Equipment …… (Continued)
The Pyrox Victor 16mm Projector
Pyrox was set up by the German firm of Robert Bosch as an agency to enable German
companies to sell their products here, and also to manufacture auto parts (spark plugs and fuel
injection stuff). With the outbreak of WW2 they could no longer continue to act as German
manufacturing agents, so they looked elsewhere for products to sell. They formed an
association with a number of American companies, including Amour Research Foundation
(wire and tape recorders) and Victor Animatograph Corporation (16mm projectors).
The three decades folowing World War II were probably the peak years of manufacturing in
Australia. Many home-grown products were produced here, many were made in Australia
under licence from overseas companies. Pyrox’s arrangements with the Victor Animatograph
Corporation of the USA, enabled them to produce the Pyrox Victor 16mm sound projector
locally . The Pyrox "sound and production factories" were at Abbotsford and Carlton, in
Melbourne, and from about 1962, in the SE suburb of Moorabbin.
Above: The Pyrox Victor mechanism – removed from its cabinet.