Full Steam - Rasmussen's Steam Car

Photos Frieder Bach, Story Thomas Erdmann. First published in AUVC Magazine Vol 66 February 1991. The original article can be found here in my AUVC - https://auvc-archive.blogspot.com/2020/03/auvc-nachrichten-vol-66-feb-1991.html I have translated the story into English.

Maybe you are like me, whenever I heard about the legendary steam engine of the Zschopau engine works, I imagined one of those steaming monsters, several tons heavy with a big black chimney, similar to a locomotive on wheels. Just as I got to know you as a steamroller from my childhood in the 50s.

You can imagine my enthusiasm when club friend Frieder Bach from Chemnitz told me one day in a letter that he had obtained some private photos of the steam car from a former DKW employee in Zschopau, who came to Rasmussen as an apprentice in 1912. Until now (1991) no one had been able to say what this original DKWs really looked like. So I was all the more surprised to see a real automobile in the photos, significant in its dimensions, but far from my ideas of a coal-fired steam locomotive on wheels.

Here is the history of the steam car.

There are countless anecdotes in the more than 100 year history of the automobile, including that of Jorgen Rasmussen, the founder of Zschopauer Motorenwerkes / DKW, who, annoyed by the insufficient fuel allocation during the First World War, had repeated problems due to the fact that he had to travel almost 30 kilometers between his residence in Chemnitz and the plant in Zschopau in his Wanderer Puppchen.

So he thought about how he could make himself independent of the traditional gasoline-powered automobile. Steam power seemed to him a promising solution. After all, the Americans were already producing practical steam powered vehicles and, in addition, Rasmussen has been working with steam power for many years. His company, originally founded in Chemnitz in 1904 as Rasmussen and Ernst Maschinen und Apparatebau GMBH manufactured, among other things, heat-resistant valves and armatures for large scale stationary steam engines as well as grates and firings for steam boilers. In 1907 Rasmussen moved production to Zschopau, where he was able to acquire a former textile mill.

The First World War was good for business at the Zschopau factory was manufacturing primers and detonators for the army. In 1916 Rasmussen began to develop a steam car project, in which the army administration soon showed great interest and which supported by awarding the corresponding orders.

Ing.Mattiessen was assigned to lead the development work, while Rasmussen himself, a Dane who had gained relevant experience with the steam car manufacturers Doble and Stanley in the USA before the war, secured an example for the ambitious project.

A truck and a five-seater passenger car were planned. The drive unit consisted of a tubular steam boiler for pressure generation and a two-cylinder steam engine. A diesel oil burner was used to heat the steam boiler.

The steam boiler in the truck was located behind the driver's seat. In the passenger car it was placed under a massive "bonnet". The pipes in the steam boiler were heated by the oil burner. Once the pressure in the boiler had risen to around 1000 atu (atmospheres), it was transferred to the steam engine via appropriate control valves. The engine was arranged horizontally as a kind of "underfloor motor," connected directly to the rear axle and consisted of two cylinders lying side by side. Power was delivered directly to the rear axle without the interposition of a gearbox.

The performance and speed of the vehicle depended on the vapor pressure supplied to the two cylinders via the valves. PS (horsepower) details about the vehicle are not known. However, the employee related that the driving tests were anything but satisfactory. In theory, the steam car's should have had a driving range of around 90 kilometers. However, a variety of problems repeatedly restricted this radius of action. On the one hand there was the immense weight of the vehicle - the water tank alone held 500 liters. But water consumption was very high, which made frequent and time-consuming refueling necessary. Even so, water tanks were not available on the route from Zschopau to Chemnitz. In addition, the vehicle was unable maintain sufficient steam pressure, even at full load, to tackle the slopes of nearby mountains. Sometimes it proved necessary to have horses drag the vehicle back to the factory when technical problems arose.

Despite these failures, Zschopau continued to develop the steam car until 1921, when the project was finally terminated. Since the end of the First World War, the further development of the automobile clearly pointed in the direction of the less complex gasoline engine. The test vehicles and parts stood for a few years, so our employee remembers, in a hall on the factory premises, before they were scrapped.

In the meantime, Rasmussen, always looking for technically usable ideas, had taken on new project. At the end of 1918, at a time when the work on the steam car was still in full swing. Ing. Hugo Ruppe came to Zschopau. He had brought a small two-stroke engine with him, no more than a toy, but this little engine already gave an idea of the possibilities that were in it.

The knowledge gained from the construction of these toy engines, of which around 1,000 were produced, was used to develop an auxiliary bicycle engine, the ancestor of the DKW motorcycles that were so successful in the years that followed.

The steam car was soon forgotten.

All that was left was the initials of this project - DKW. Rasmussen had already protected this as a trademark in the early stages of the experiments, together with a brand emblem that showed a volcano framed by the three letters. As late as 1922, this emblem adorned the letterheads of the Zschopau engine factories and also the advertising posters for the bicycle auxiliary engine show the smoking volcano in the background.

Remembrance of the dream of a steam car?


In any case, the three letters found a new meaning. The steam car became "The Boys Wish" for the toy engine and the bicycle assist engine quickly became "The little miracle", proving to be effective advertising ideas, which would eventually lead to development of the largest motorcycle factory in the world.

DKW Fahrrader

Jorge Rasmussen was never a man to let an opportunity pass by. Once DKW began building clip on bicycle 'help motors' in 1919, he decided they should also make the bicycles. These bicycles were especially strengthened to be able to mount a help motor at a later date. One line of this business evolved into the DKW motorcycle company. Initially the bicycles were sold under the brand name DGW, but the name quickly reverted to the familiar DKW.

Sales of the DKW bicycle however proved to be disappointing, as this lament from the 1929 DKW dealer magazine (DKW Handler) notes:

"Again and again we have to make the comment that a large percentage of our gentlemen who sell our DKW motorcycles, also sell bicycles of other brands. To fulfill the wishes of our customers, we have bought a DKW branded bicycle onto the market under the name "DKW Original". which in terms of quality and equipment is in no way inferior to the bikes of other well-known brand manufacturers. It has all the features that you would expect from a first-class brand bicycle, namely seamless steel tube frame, hard soldering, copper-nickel plating and enamelling, set off with double gold lines, yellow leather seat, nickel-plated pedals, torpedo hub and red or blue colour scheme. The bike has a classy design and is virtually indestructible. If you now consider that our bike is at least RM 5 to RM 10 cheaper than the brand-name bikes, then we really don't understand why our motorcycle salespeople, who on the one hand make good earnings from the DKW motorcycle business, don't on the other hand, support us by promoting bicycle sales.

Surely it should also be in your interest to personally convince yourself of the quality of our DKW original bikes by purchasing a few sample machines. We are definitely counting on receiving your order in the next few days.

We know very well that the bicycle business itself has not started this year in a way that one could have assumed after the successes of the previous year, but you should certainly be able to achieve better results if you are able to offer your next DKW- motorcycle customer the opportunity to buy a DKW bicycle."

From the Boy's Wish to the Little Wonder

A lecture by Günther Theilmann on the 75th anniversary of motorcycle construction in Zschopau

In 1922, when the Zschopauer Motorenwerke built their first motorcycle, the DKW brand was best known as a toy or auxiliary bicycle engine maker. The two-stroke engine had a very bad reputation as it was considered to be unreliable and, due to its high fuel consumption, very uneconomical. For this reason, there were only a few two-stroke motorcycle manufacturers in Germany. Given the two-stroke’s reputation, it would appear unwise to start production of DKW two-stroke machines, and yet Jörgen Skafte Rasmussen and his employees managed to improve the efficiency of the two-stroke engine so comprehensively as to eliminate former prejudices! But not only that, he also managed to make DKW the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer with his two-stroke motorcycles in only six years! I would like to show here how he accomplished this incredible feat.

The "Zschopauer Maschinenfabrik", forerunner of the "Zschopauer Motorenwerke", was founded in 1907 by Jörgen Skafte Rasmussen. The company initially dealt with the manufacture of steam boiler fittings. When the First World War broke out in 1914, this company also converted to armaments production, mainly manufacturing Garnet detonators. In addition, they experimented with a steam-powered car, from which the origin of the brand name D.K.W can be traced.

After the war ended, a small two-stroke engine was manufactured. Because of its use as a toy engine, the initials D.K.W were reinterpreted as "The Boy's Wish".

The production of this engine was only a small step for Rasmussen in his search of a lucrative product for his company. Encouraged by the enormous performance and robustness of this small 30 cc toy two-stroke engine, it was realized that a slightly larger two-stroke engine with about 100 cc would have to be suitable for enabling the cyclists to motorize their bikes. In the difficult post-war period, the motorization of an existing bicycle was the cheapest and only way for most people to be motorized.

This strategy would prove to be correct, because despite great prejudices against the two-stroke engine, such as high fuel consumption and poor reliability, the small DKW engine sold extremely well. By early 1922, 20,000 engines had been produced. The auxiliary bicycle motor of 118 ccm and 1 HP output had some special technical features, such as flywheel magneto, external breakers and a gear reduction in the crankcase for a favorable drive belt ratio. These design elements, which significantly increased the reliability of DKWs two-stroke engine, provided convincing arguments and strengthened the confidence of the buyers. Since the auxiliary bicycle motor frequently caused frame breaks on conventional bicycles, from 1922 Rasmussen began manufacturing his own bicycles with a reinforced frame. That was the first step towards motorcycle production!

Spurred on by good sales, the Zschopau DKW works soon started to produce their own motorcycle chassis. The engine was enlarged to 142 cc, which increased its output to 1.5 hp. The engine also received fan cooling.

In 1922 Rasmussen caused a sensation with an extremely unusual vehicle that displayed a variety of highly interesting technical innovations. The Lomos chair bike was far ahead of its time in many details: it had a rear swing arm with telescopic suspension, a front wheel suspension with a short swing arm with telescopic suspension, and a continuously variable transmission ratio through adjustable pulley halves, patented as the ‘Lomos coupling.’

Pipe frames manufactured from of welded sheet metal tubes of electron cast iron were used. The backrest of the sheet steel armchair also served as a fuel tank. The auxiliary motor, enlarged to 142ccm and cooled by a fan and placed under the seat, served as the drive. All in all, the Lomos chair bike was a sensation and a forerunner of the scooter that was so popular in later years. But the time was not yet ripe for this revolutionary vehicle and as the manufacturing effort was very high, only about 2500 Lomos chair bikes were built. Nevertheless, an important corporate goal was achieved with this vehicle: attention was drawn to the Zschopau engine works!

The first DKW motorcycle also appeared in 1922. The design came from the talented engineer Hermann Weber, who had come to Zschopau as head of the design department the same year. Again, the fan-cooled engine with 142 ccm and 1.5 HP was used. It was located in the front triangle of the bike-like frame. The vehicle had no clutch and a manual transmission was not available. Two-speed rear wheel hubs were sometimes installed. The bike had auxiliary pedal drive. After a sensational victory on the ADAC four-day Reichsfahrt from Berlin to Heidelberg, this first DKW motorcycle was given the name "Reichsfahrtmodell". It was a huge sales success; approx. 20,000 vehicles were produced. With the Reichsfahrtmodell the step to motorcycle production was finally made. In the following years, with the significant participation of the chief designer Hermann Weber, new and improved motorcycle types were constantly developed, some of which stood out from the competition thanks to interesting design details.

For example, fan cooling offered a clear advantage over most of the competitors and the ability of DKW two-stroke engines to remain cool under all operating conditions was an important contributor to the company’s success. DKW motorcycles were the first with low-pressure balloon tires, front and rear wheel inner brake, shock absorbers, hot-dip galvanized tank, intake air filter, kick starter, center tilt stand and elastic spring saddle. All of this had a positive impact on sales and DKW grew bigger every day.

The 50,000th DKW engine was produced in 1924. This success was not only due to technical development and mastery of the two-stroke principle, but also the company’s advanced sales and advertising strategies, which were unusual for the time. The young Dr. Carl Hahn came to Zschopau as Rasmussen’s closest aide to relieve him in the sales and advertising sector. Under Dr Hahn’s leadership, the sales department had built up a very large, close-knit sales and service network in the first few years. Even in small towns there were successful and well-functioning DKW dealers. In the area of the Chemnitz general agency alone there were more than 420 dealers and workshops.

Even then, the dealership was obliged to mark the businesses with clearly visible, uniform signs and flags and to use centralised advertising campaigns. Newspaper advertisements had to be placed regularly, the text and size of which were specified by the sales department. The dealers received advertising subsidies, billboards, brochures and all printed matter. They were also obliged to conduct independent advertising campaigns, demonstration trips and exhibitions.

At congresses, the dealerships were motivated, committed to the products and introduced to innovations and the goals of the company. There was also the opportunity to test drive new models. The mechanics were also thought of. They were trained in Zschopau, received a certificate and a corresponding patch for their work clothes. At the time this was unique only to DKW!

The Zschopauer Motorenwerke itself was one of the first motorcycle manufacturers at that time to be found regularly in daily newspapers and advertising magazines. The ads stood out mainly due to their clear and striking statements about technology, quality and performance.

Dr. Carl Hahn (father of the later VW boss in Wolfsburg) also recognized early on the advertising effectiveness of motorsport success. The head of the construction department Hermann Weber, the master of the racing department, Hans Sprung, the later works driver Walfried Winkler, and many others drew attention to the DKW brand with their numerous racing victories and long-distance journeys.

The racing successes were always disseminated to the press and communicated by the Zschopauer Motorenwerke through striking advertisements in newspapers and specialist magazines. When, from 1924, the first racing machines with charge pump engines achieved their sensational victories, DKW motorcycles became known at home and abroad.

A remarkable idea of the sales department triggered a further increase in DKW motorcycle sales in 1925. As a first for a motorcycle factory, prospective buyers were offered the option of paying in installments! For the E 206 family of models, the weekly rate was 10 RM with a down payment of 175 to 200 RM. To assist the small, mostly craft-oriented dealers filling in the partial payment plan required forms and the calculation of the installments, the sales department published the brochure "Instructions for installment deals." In 1928, when a new law exempted motorcycles up to 200 ccm from tax and driver's license, the Zschopauer Motorenwerke was the only motorcycle factory that reacted immediately. The displacement of the E 206 was reduced to 198 ccm and thus the exemption from tax and driving license requirements was achieved. The owners of the already delivered machines were offered an inexpensive conversion kit Sales were the result.

The factory itself also broke new ground. As early as 1925, production was rationalized by replacing the previous production on assembly stands, in favour of assembly line production with the E 206 - the first German motorcycle manufacturer to do so.

In order to be independent of subcontractors and to save their profits in the interest of the customers, Rasmussen decided to manufacture everything that belongs to the finished motorcycle himself. This resulted in a large number of branches and production facilities in which saddles, carburetors, hubs, clutches, brakes, sheet metal parts and much more were produced. The Rasmussen group even had its own light metal and iron foundries.

Rasmussen had already begun manufacturing stationary motors in 1922, which in the following years were also supplied to 62 German motorcycle manufacturers. Due to the lack of their own engines, so-called ready-made wheels were fitted with these DKW units. The success of Zschopau is also very clear in the growth of the number of employees. While in 1922 Zschopau was still working with around 100 people, three years later there were already 1,000 employees. And another three years later, 6000 people worked in Mr. Rasmussen's group of companies!

In 1927, five years after the start of production, the 100,000th motorcycle was manufactured in Zschopau. A year later, in 1928, about 65 percent of German motorcycles were DKW s or were driven by DKW engines. The annual production of 60,000 motorcycles made DKW the largest motorcycle factory in the world in 1928. This entrepreneurial achievement was unprecedented in Germany. Jörgen Skafte Rasmussen, with his chief designer Hermann Weber, understood how to further develop and improve the two-stroke engine, which had been ridiculed by the competition. Their technical breakthroughs firmly established the company on firm ground. Then, with the help of his sales manager, Dr. Carl Hahn, Rasmussen was able to implement completely new sales strategies that motivated and excited the DKW dealership, which contributed significantly to the company’s incredible success. In doing so, Rasmussen proved himself a true pioneer.

Originally published in German in the AUVC Magazine Volume 92 March 1998. The original can be found here: https://auvc-archive.blogspot.com/2020/07/auvc-nachrichten-vol-92-march-1998.html

DKW - Germany's Post-war Wonder Car

1941 saw the beginning of major changes at Auto-Union. Under instruction from the Nazi government, all new private vehicle development was officially stopped. Audi had already ceased vehicle production in 1940 and now Wanderer followed. In the hopes of obtaining a military contract, the Central Design Office initiated a heavy truck project. The Horch 1500 was unveiled in 1942 but only a small number were built as the Nazi government preferred to stick with standardized models. Auto-Union was instructed to build 1.5 ton trucks of a Steyr design, SdKfz half-tracks and, from 1943, the Raupenschlepper Ost (caterpillar tractor for Eastern service). DKW's Zschopau engine plant increased production of stationary engines for use as electrical generators for army use, but otherwise DKW civilian car and motorcycle production continued unhindered until late 1943 when all German industrial capacity was directed to the war effort. https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-new-auto-union-truck-motor-und.html

DKW never built vehicles for the Wehrmacht but as the war progressed some were commandeered for military use and were inevitably destroyed.

The war proved a disaster for Auto-Union, as for Germany. Wanderer's Siegmar factory was completely destroyed by bombing, while the Audi-Horch plant in Zwickau was badly damaged. DKW's Zschopau factories however, survived intact but as Auto-Union's factories were designated by the Soviets as category one military facilities what wasn't destroyed was seized as war reparations. Soviet engineering corps systematically stripped every plant of any usable equipment and shipped it back to the USSR. 
A display of war damage from the August Horch museum in Zwickau. This is a Horch general purpose truck.
 
Some Auto-Union senior management were arrested by the Soviet occupation authorities for war crimes - the Horch plant had housed a small forced labour camp - and shipped them off to the Soviet Union to serve their sentence rebuilding that shattered country. This led to an exodus of management and skilled technicians to the west, but even there, prospects were bleak. Germany was in ruins everywhere and the Allies were determined that the country would be de-industrialized. German technology and patents were seized and distributed among the Allies. DKW's famous RT-125 motorcycle for instance was soon to reappear in foreign markets as the BSA Bantam, the Harley-Davidson Hummer, the Moskva 125 and a dozen other names.
 
It didn't take long for these plans to unravel however. All the European powers were exhausted by the war and could barely meet the needs of their own people, let alone the defeated Germans. Slowly but surely, the Allies permitted German industries to be resurrected to meet the country's basic needs, such as manufacturing pots and pans, household goods, and agricultural tools.

As relations between the Soviets and the Western Allies began to deteriorate, the Western Allies came to realize that an economically dependent Germany would be a millstone around their neck and its unemployed and demoralized workforce susceptible to Communist propaganda. Rebuilding a strong German nation was felt to be the best form of defense against the so called 'Red Menace.' In 1947 West Germany's international rehabilitation and economic recovery got underway with a boost from the Marshall Plan. Millions of dollars in aid was poured into the country, commandeered patents and designs were returned, and the country began to stagger back onto its feet. 

Post War Recovery
The largely empty shells of Auto-Union's Saxon factories were nationalized by the East German government s in 1947 so a new company was registered in West Germany in 1948 under the name 'Central Depot for Auto-Union Spare Parts.' The new company provided spare parts and servicing for the 60,000 DKW cars still registered on the road in Germany. From this small start the company raised a small amount of capital and began planning the company's return to car manufacture. The company's extremely convoluted and confusing resurrection is covered in detail here:
https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2020/05/collapse-and-reconstruction-history-of.html.

Almost immediately plans to restart vehicle construction were underway. Germany needed to get back on its feet so DKW focused on building a light commercial vehicle. DKW's prewar commercials had been basically standard sedans with modified bodywork, but engineer Kurt Schwenk designed a completely new type of vehicle that would become the template for all light commercial vans to this day.
 
A pre-war DKW Meisterklasse commercial van in post-war Holland.

Schwenk maximized the opportunities provided by DKWs small, transversely mounted engine and front wheel drive. He rotated the engine 180 degrees so that it was now placed ahead of the axles and pushed the cab forward, over the engine, effectively creating what we know as the 'cab over engine' layout. This concept had first been demonstrated in the Horch 1500 truck of 1942. The advantages of the design are quite obvious. Additionally, its low, flat floor, unhampered by a drive shaft, allowed a wide variety of body styles, from simple flat tray with drop sides, panel van, half panel and mini-bus. https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-development-of-dkw-schnellaster.html

By today's standards the Schnellaster, or 'rapid delivery van', is strikingly modern looking with its sharply sloping, streamlined cab and pressed steel body, but it was radically new in its day and set a design standard for light commercials. Within a year a dozen companies would release similar vehicles.

Released in 1949, the F89L Schnellaster was the right vehicle at the right time and was soon being exported all across western Europe. Demand was such that DKW licensed production of the Schnellaster to Imosa in Spain, where they became so ubiquitous that delivery vans in Spain came to be known as DeeKaVees. The name Schnellaster or 'rapid truck' was something of a misnomer though as the original 688cc 3-speed engine gave the van a maximum speed of only about 70 kilometres per hour. In 1952 it received a 4-speed gearbox which lifted the speed to about 80-85 kph. The engine was upgraded to the 3 cylinder engine 900cc engine in 1956. Over 28,000 Schnellasters were built during its production run.

This contemporary photos shows how the layout of the engine maximized usable space. The whole engine bay includes the fuel tank, radiator and engine. The black rectangle opposite the fuel tank is the radiator. which is cooled by a fan on the left hand side of the vehicle. In fact, the 'grill' at the bottom had no function. The engine is almost completely invisible in the photo, only the air filter being visible peeking over the front grill.

A DKW 3=6 in BBC livery. The Schnellaster was exported all across western Europe and as far away as Australia, South Africa and South America. They were built under license in Spain, South America, Argentina and Brazil.

The 'F9' is Reborn

In 1950 DKW unveiled the F89P New Meisterklasse saloon.The genesis of this car, nominally the successor of the pre-war DKW F9, owed a great deal to an amazing stroke of luck.

Of the dozen or more pre-production F9s built during the war, all were either destroyed or permanently lost to Auto-Union. An unsuccessful attempt had been made to smuggle one of the cars to the western zone in order to distribute the company's assets. That car, formerly belonging to Technical Director William Werner, had been damaged in a bombing raid in Berlin in February 1944 and was not running. It was trucked to the Auto-Union office in Hamburg for repair but spotted by a British engineering team, who recognized it as a new type and seized it for evaluation. The car was shipped to Britain and later to Australia, where it disappeared. https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2017/07/1939-dkw-f9-prototype.html

The new Auto-Union was stuck with its prewar technology in the form of the F8 engine and chassis. Brief consideration was made whether they should recommence production of the prewar F8, but this was soon discounted as DKW's Spandau bodyworks in Berlin was not easily accessible. Besides, by 1948, Auto-Union's former plant in East Germany, now nationalized as IFA, had been resurrected and begun selling their version of the F8. It appeared that the new Auto-Union would need to design an entirely new car from scratch. Kurt Schwenk, having just designed the new Schnellaster van, started work on a modern, pontoon bodied sedan, notionally called the FX. The project made good progress initially, but would soon be derailed. https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-dkw-fx-would-be-successor.html

With the dealer network clamoring for a passenger car, DKW agreed to a joint-venture with the Baur Karosserie to build steel bodies on Auto-Union's stockpile of F8 chassis. The new car was designated the DKW F10 and went on sale in 1949.

For the story of the short lived F10, see here: https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2017/07/dkws-forgotten-model-dkw-f10.html

While all this was going on, the new Auto-Union company was re-establishing links with Auto-Union's prewar suppliers and service providers. One of these was the Allgaier tooling company in Uhingen. In 1940, DKW contracted Allgaier to manufacture body presses for the new F9's steel body. Unknown to Auto-Union, Allgaier had partially completed the contract before the war intervened and both Allgaier and Auto-Union were diverted to war production. DKW's presses had been moved to a storage yard and were lucky not to have been scrapped to meet Germany's desperate need for steel. Auto-Union executives were therefore surprised to hear that the F9 body presses were still there, lying in Allgaier's steel yard. Although they had been exposed to the weather and neglect for nearly ten years, Auto-Union eagerly recovered them and had them restored.

Auto-Union did not however, have access to the F9's three cylinder 900cc engine so they compromised by mounting the new body over the F8 chassis and two cylinder 688cc engine. The streamlined modern bodywork made the car look sleek, but despite some tweaking of the engine to get it up to 23HP, it was a little under-powered. It should be noted that the 1940 900cc engine only performed marginally better at 28HP. With its three speed gearbox the car was optimistically rated to about 90 kph. The new 'Meisterklasse' was available as a two-door limousine, convertible, coupe or estate wagon.

The engine bay of a DKW F89. The little two cylinder engine sits transversely at the front of the engine bay like in prewar DKWs. However, the engine and gearbox have been rotated 180 degrees so that the engine sits ahead of the axles. It was a small change but substantially increased space inside the cabin. The column running through the radiator housing is the gear shift column, which is mounted in the centre of the dashboard.


The F89P Meisterklasse was an extremely popular car, selling over 60,000 units. It must be remembered that these were the lean years of the German Miracle. The economy was only just beginning to recover and people could not afford expensive cars. Established auto companies like BMW, who returned to the market with their large prewar cars almost went bankrupt for want of customers. BMW barely managed to save themselves through sales of motorcycles and the Isetta microcar. The Meisterklasse, although powered by an engine only marginally larger than its microcar competitors, at least offered customers the comforts, styling and appearance of a bigger, modern car.

F91 - DKW's rally champion
In mid 1953 the Meisterklasse received a new four speed gearbox, improving its top speed somewhat. These four speed cars were primarily exported while German customers had to make do with the three speed. But later that same year DKW introduced a significantly new option for the model - the three cylinder 900cc engine. Cars with the new engine were designated the F91 Sonderklasse, but otherwise the two models were visually identical. For six months the Meisterklasse and Sonderklasse were sold together, before the Meisterklasse was withdrawn. The new three cylinder engine gave a sharp increase in horsepower to 40 hp and could push the car up to 115kph.

The engine bay of the DKW 3=6. The engine is now mounted longitudinally. Everything in the engine design was simplicity - there was no water pump, no petrol pump and each cylinder had its own condenser coil, which gave the engine built in redundancy.

The F91 carried forward the handsome styling of its predecessor but it was its new engine that guaranteed its success. The F91 had great acceleration and, combined with its sure footed front wheel drive, proved to be a successful rally car. The F91 was a market winner in its class and sold over 76,000 cars. http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/dkw-f91-dkws-record-breaking-rally-car.html

Despite its small size, the 3=6 was an outstanding engine that was both powerful and economic. It helped push the DKW team to victory in the 1954 European Rally Championship. The marketing department of course made the most of it.

The 'Big DKW' - the quintessential DKW

In 1956 the F91 was substantially redesigned, stretched, widened and re-styled and released as the F93. The new model performed well in rallying, but not as successfully as its smaller predecessor. Following the introduction of new European safety regulations in 1957, the original rear hinged suicide doors were replaced with modern front hinged doors. Over 176,000 F93s were sold by time the model was retired in 1960. https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-big-dkw-36.html

The F93 was 10cms wider and 6cm longer than its predecessor.


The Power of the Two Stroke

After DKW's rally victories in 1954, two race drivers, Guenther Ahrens and Albrecht Mantzel, developed a customised racing model on a 3=6 chassis, with tuned engine and a lightweight fibreglass body. The car set five world records for speed and endurance in 1956. Limited production of the sports coupe followed, with DKW supplying the chassis and engines and Ahrens and Mantzel organising bodies and fittings. The best estimate is that 70-80 cars were built before Auto Union stopped supply in 1958. http://www.dkwmonza.de/

Prestige in its day. Collectors item today.

The Swinging Sixties

This contemporary street scene in southern Germany shows a broad cross section of the autos on the roads. We can see a BMW-Isetta micro-car, a Mercedes, plenty of Volkswagens, a couple of DKW Juniors, several Opel Rekords, a DKW Schnellaster, a Gutbrod van, a Hanomag van and a couple of Ford Taunus'.

As the end of the decade approached DKW was struggling to update its designs. As popular as it was, the DKW F93 was almost twenty years old and was beginning to look it.

Ingolstadt's cabinet of curiosities. Full size mock ups of a range of new DKW models that never saw the light of day.

After failing to capitalize on the microcar boom of the mid 1950s, DKW unveiled their brand new small car in 1959. Designated the DKW F11 'Junior', the car was DKW's first with a monocoque body. The car was powered by a new 791cc 3 cylinder engine and modern contemporary styling that appealed to the youth market. Production of the new car commenced at a new factory in Ingolstadt.

The nippy little Junior came a two door sedan, coupe, and convertible and was a popular seller in Germany and overseas. 118,000 cars were sold.

The resurrection of Auto Union

The introduction of the Junior and the move of all vehicle production to Ingolstadt marked a turning point in DKWs history. Daimler-Benz had bought a controlling stake in the company in 1957 and wanted to to use the company as a budget brand to help Mercedes-Benz break into the US market. The DKW Junior had been a critical part of that strategy and, although it was a popular seller, it was not enough to keep DKW in the black. The need to balance the books led Daimler to shut down DKW's Dusseldorf vehicle plant, where the F93 and Schnellaster van were manufactured. The plant was sold to Mercedes-Benz and a revised Schnellaster 1000, now powered by a Mercedes-Benz four cylinder engine began to roll off the production line. F93 production at Dusseldorf ceased but a restyled version, now badged the Auto-Union 1000 recommenced at Ingolstadt.

The Junior and Auto Union 1000S share a showroom. Note the price tags on the license plates.

The Auto-Union 1000 range included a number of varieties, differentiated by slightly different fittings and trim. In 1961 the engine was upgraded to 981ccs, imaginatively called the "Big DKW 3=6." Once again the engine was a winner on reliability, power and fuel efficiency. 84,000 cars were built.

The F93 and Auto Union 1000S side by side. The differences are basically confined to trim and badges.

Thunderbirds are go!!

The Junior and 1000S continued in production through the early 1960's, but public tastes were changing and car companies needed to constantly update their styles to retain customer interest. In 1957, Auto Union had released the 1000SP. The chassis and engine came directly from the sturdy 1000s, but the body was a cross between the DKW Junior and a Ford Thunderbird. This sleek and exciting sportscar certainly gets enthusiasts' hearts racing nowadays, but 1960s Germany was not 1960s America and the model flopped. Production numbers were low and they are highly sought after today. http://www.ritzsite.nl/DKW1000SP/01_SP.htm

In 1960 DKW released the F12, an upgraded version of the Junior. The F12 inherited the old 896cc engine of the F93 which gave it a little more kick, and it featured a new automatic oil lubrication system called the Lubrimat. The Lubrimat, which had been been introduced to reduce the stigma of mixing two-stroke petroil,failed to work as expected and resulted a wave of engine failures. It was a public relations disaster for DKW and sales plummeted.

Bizarre Swedish advertising - "Look, it has wheels!"

The Age of Square 
By the middle of the decade Auto-Union was in serious trouble. The Lubrimat and F12 debacle had damaged DKW's reputation. Times had changed and two-stroke motors were increasingly seen by the buying public as an outdated technology. Daimler-Benz had been pressing Auto-Union to abandon two-strokes, but the Auto-Union engine design studio remained convinced that a new, efficient two-stroke with fuel injection would be a game changing new technology. Daimler-Benz allowed the engine project to continue, but decided to take a hand in the development of the long awaited Auto-Union 1000 replacement. They provided a Mercedes-Benz body study and a flat four boxer engine to the Auto-Union design team. The result was the handsome F102, a mid sized contemporary styled sedan. The boxer engine however proved to be a failure so rather than postpone the project while Mercedes ironed out the engine problems, Daimler-Benz relented and allowed Auto-Union to install their latest 1130cc two-stroke engine. The F102 proved to be a relative success and managed to claw back some some of DKWs market share. In two years slightly over 52,000 cars were sold.

There was nothing small car about the F102. It did a lot to improve DKWs image after several disappointing failures.

The Mercedes team returned to Auto-Union in 1965 with a new four cylinder four stroke motor and work on the F102's successor began. The DKW F103, as it was originally designated, was planned to go on sale in 1966. Before the car was ready however there would be dramatic changes at the company. Daimler-Benz had been leasing factory space at Ingolstadt to Volkswagen for Beetle production since 1965 and had observed that more Beetles were leaving the factory than DKWs. It was an obvious sign that DKW was a lost cause, so Daimler-Benz made the decision to sell Auto-Union to Volkswagen. The F103 project was ready so Volkswagen management decided to let it proceed, but insisted that the DKW name be dropped and the car was rebadged as an Audi, starting anew that lineage of prestige cars that continues to this day. http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/audi-f103.html

The shape of things to come - Audi F103.

Although Volkswagen didn't know it yet, it would be DKW-Auto Union's front wheel drive technology and heritage, rather than Ferdinand Porsche's rear wheel drive, air cooled technology that would take Volkswagen forward. By the early 1970s sales of the Volkswagen Beetle were terminally declining so Volkswagen management decided to rebadge Audi's new A50 as the Volkswagen Polo. It was the beginning of the end for Porsche's peoples car and a new direction for Volkswagen.