In May 1950, journalists gathered at the main train station in Ingolstadt, the Bavarian city where Auto-Union GmbH had been founded a few months earlier. The journalists had known for a year that "DKW is back!" The Ingolstadt-based company had presented the DKW delivery van F89L and the DKW motorcycle RT125W as the first post-war products under the sign of the four rings in the previous year. What was still missing was a passenger car. Time was of the essence as many of DKW's former customers had begun to migrate to the competition. The response from Ingolstadt was "it pays to wait," but in order to keep the loyal two-stroke community going and not completely lose its contacts abroad, Auto-Union GmbH cooperated with the bodywork company Baur of Stuttgart, to launch in February a passenger car based on the DKW F8 pre-war chassis, called the F10 in DKW's nomenclature. This was a purely interim development to give the export traders something, because customer loyalty abroad not as strong as among German buyers. There would be little advertising for the DKW F10 in Germany because the Auto-Union's first post-war passenger car was only months away. The new car was finally presented to the journalists on May 17, 1950. Even automobile pioneer August Horch, now 81, traveled from his home in Munchenberg in Upper Franconia to Ingolstadt to attend the event. https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2020/04/dkw-meisterklasse-press-conference-may.html
In many respects, the new passenger car was an old one. The technology - chassis, three-speed gearbox, front-wheel drive and two-cylinder two-stroke engine - came from the prewar DKW F8. However, the engine was now turned 180 degrees and placed in front of the front axle. With the help of a downdraft carburetor and a slightly higher compression head, the 700cc engine produced 23 HP instead of the 20 PS from the F8. In addition, the chassis was equipped with a hydraulic brake system.
The body largely corresponded to that of the F9 prototype from 1939. This car was developed by the Chemnitz based Auto-Union AG in response to the expected competition from the state-sponsored KDF car. The new car was presented at the IAA in Berlin in spring 1940 as the "high class" with a newly designed three-cylinder engine, but as is known, the war prevented the car reaching production.
Auto-Union had ordered presses and bodywork tooling from Allgaier in Uhingen and some of this machinery was recovered after the war. The mixture of F8 and F9 components explains the type designation of the new DKW passenger car:- F89. In the old DKW tradition a melodious epithet was required so in memory of the company's successful prewar models, the F89P was given the name “New Meisterklasse.”
Even thought the New Meisterklasse was presented in Ingolstadt, the factory on the Danube [ie, Ingolstadt] did not have enough space to build the passenger car. Far away, in Dusseldorf-am-Rhein, Auto-Union established its second home in the heavily destroyed factory halls of the former Rheinmetall-Borsig aircraft plants. Between March 13th 1950, on the day the contract was signed between the Auto-Union GmbH and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and the first day of August in 1950, when the start of series production commenced, nothing was done except cleaning up the totally devastated site. Within a very short period of time however a modern production hall of 10,000 square meters is established.
In August 1950, a total of 17 limousines and 8 convertibles were assembled by hand while the conveyor belt was still being installed. These first cars were exported to France to raise foreign capital. In Germany, the car was the star at the inauguration of the new Shell station on the grounds of the Auto-Union branch in Nuremberg.
The rest of the prototypes, which had been introduced around May, were built by Karmann in Osnabruck on behalf of Auto-Union. The well-known body manufacturer also supplied the series bodies of the four-seater convertible. Initially you could only choose between the two-door limousine at DM 5,830 and a four-seater Karmann convertible at DM 7,585. The latter was available with a two-tone paint scheme until 1952.
On November 28, 1950, the 1000th New Meisterklasse, a limousine, left the factory in Dusseldorf. Interesting to note is the fact that all two-cylinder engines of the F89 series were manufactured in Ingolstadt.
At the Frankfurt IAA in April 1951, the range of offerings was expanded considerably. The DKW Universal (F89S) was presented in mixed steel and rear wooden body construction and 10 cm wider wheelbase (6,350 DM), the sedan with sliding roof was introduced, and the two luxurious two-seaters in Cabriolet and Coupe form with a body from the Hebmuller company in Wuppertal. 8,950 DM had to be paid for these special models, which was almost Opel Kapitan level! The luxury two-seaters were equipped with flashing indicator lights and a single 'stoplight' over the rear license plate. The two-seater coupe with a rear panoramic window looked especially elegant. Series production of these new models only started in August 1951 (luxury two-seater) and September l95l (universal and sedan with sunroof).
In June 1952 came the last variant of the F89, the city delivery car (or panel van). Its body was comparable to that of the Universal, however, had an unglazed wooden and artificial leather construction. On April 30, 1952, the 25,000th New Mesterklasse was produced. At the beginning of July of the same year, a change took place from 16" to 15" rims (from chassis number 60 526 9 I 2).
In February 1953 there were larger and more obvious changes. A new four-speed gearbox with single-plate dry clutch replaced the earlier three-speed gearbox with friction disc oil bath clutch, which had been carried over unchanged from the pre-war period. But not all versions of the F89 received the new four-speed transmissions. The reason - just one month later, Auto-Union presented the DKW 3-6 special class (F91) with the long-awaited three-cylinder two-stroke engine at the IAA in Frankfurt. Correspondingly, the two-cylinder F89 models instantly lost their value.
New models in the DKW range.
From now on, the luxury two-seaters were only offered as three-cylinder F91s. These bodies were now supplied by Karmann as Hebmuller had filed for bankruptcy in the summer of 1952. In the four-seater convertible, also built by Karmann, the change to the F91 from March 1953 took place only gradually, so four-speed F89 versions of this model continued to be built in small numbers. Both F89 and F91 two-seaters are also known.
The sedan, the universal and the city delivery van continued in the two-cylinder, four-speed format. These models were revised in May. The 'DKW Meisterklasse four-speed' as they were labelled were recognizable by the new, one-piece radiator grille and the enlarged bumper horns as well as a larger rear bumper. In the interior, better padding and a larger, two-spoke steering wheel made for more comfort. The limousine was given a larger rear window, which made the car appear wider. The Universal has now been provided with a full sheet metal body, which was mounted over an underlying wooden frame, however, the artificial leather roof was initially retained. From July 1953, the artificial leather roof was replaced by a sheet metal one.
In September 1953, the end of the DKW Meisterklasse was inaugurated: the sedan and the universal were now available with the three-cylinder engine and badged the F91 Sonderklasse. Consequently, the price of the F89 four-speed limousine was reduced to 5,585.- DM to underline its importance as an introductory model. The Universal continued to be built in small numbers both with the two-cylinder or three-cylinder engine. By September 1953 only the city delivery van appeared in the price list with the two-cylinder engine.
April 1954 saw the final end of the DKW Meisterklasse. The success of the F89 was of decisive importance for the re-establishment of Auto-Union in West Germany after the war, but which was hindered by its reliance on the old two-cylinder engine. Criticism from the experts was inevitable. In a personal letter to Werner Zentzytzki, the press officer at Auto-Union in November 1952, the well-known motoring journalist Werner Oswald said:
'First of all, you wanted to know why I would prefer the VW. In case of doubt, for me, when comparing several car models, the practical value is the decisive criterion. And the VW’s value undoubtedly greater. In spite of [the DKW F89’s] better [driving] performance, it is a priori cheaper to buy and, more importantly, cheaper to operate and finally it achieves a better resale price. The tax savings with the DKW (90 marks a year) are absolutely insignificant compared to the other higher operating costs. Above all, however, the higher consumption (with less power!) weighs against it. In terms of fuel economy, the VW is about 7 litres per 100 km, while in the Meisterclasse it is about 9 litres per 100 km. The costs incurred for repairs and maintenance are usually considerably lower with VW. This is due to its greater reliability and, above all, the service life; the considerably cheaper spare parts prices and the naturally larger customer service organization. I take every opportunity to talk to motorists (preferably with strangers who I don't even know). The percentage of very satisfied VW drivers is unusually large, while DKW drivers usually have more or less criticism of their cars. Above all, it strikes me that former owners of old DKW cars are not as satisfied with the new ones as they obviously were in the past. I also know about the disadvantages of the VW and know the special advantages of the Meisterklasse. It is undoubtedly superior above all in its driving characteristics, but for my decision to buy, however, the points above are more important.'
So much for Werner Oswald's unofficial words [quite different to his comments at the May 1950 press conference, see link above]. It was not until 1953, with the market launch of the three-cylinder DKW F91, that Auto-Union could go on the offensive, as this car was actually intended in 1939 as an answer to the Volkswagen. But by this time the VW Beetle had long since won the race.
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