DKW Sonderklasse with Wanderer Engine

In autumn 1987, a "DKW Sonderklasse, built in 1937, with a four-stroke engine" was offered in the MARKT. Being an old Chemnitz man who feels closely connected to the products of Auto Union, my heart beat faster. I already liked the DKW Special Class - at least visually – since its introduction in 1937, better than the Wanderer W 24, which appeared at the same time. The only the problem with the Sonderklasse was the unpopular V 4 charge pump two-stroke engine which it inherited from its predecessor models. The shortcomings of the engine were well known to the ‘Big DKW’ models. The V 4, fueled with pure gasoline, used sump lubrication that was prone to malfunction which often resulted in piston jams and other lubrication-related engine damage. The ignition distributor was also susceptible to wear due to higher wear since it had to work at double speed due to the two-stroke process. Yes, and then there was the tiresome problem of excessive fuel consumption, which was stated in a contemporary test report at approx. 10 - 13 litres per 100 km but was almost always more in everyday operation.

I was probably the only one interested in the ad mentioned. After a sightseeing trip to Franconia, I purchased the vehicle and shipped it to the Rhineland in early December 1987. The somewhat sad and battered DKW had obviously been hard worked in the post-war CSSR. The Sonderklasse was solidly built, but for whatever reason, at some point somebody had installed a Wanderer W 24 and thus - probably rather unconsciously - enabled this car to survive to the present day. Wanderer W 24 engines were also used by the German Wehrmacht for stationary units and were therefore relatively easy to find as loot after the end of the war. Anyway, it was this unsightly half-breed that did it for me, even if it may horrify the purists among classic car fans. It is easy to see that such hybrids have special and often difficult problems when they are restored. But for once these problem was not encountered and the car has since covered more than 9,000 kilometres since it was registered on August 1, 1990.

Since its first appearance, the car has received regular attention because of its rarity. Applause, thanks to its appealing appearance on the one hand, but also disappointment and criticism from experts, because of the non-original engine. Through the hood slots or even from below, you try to get a look at the engine, or you wait anxiously for the silky smooth two stroke note after starting - and then you are disappointed to hear 'just' the no less cultivated running of a side-valve four-stroke engine. If I am with my vehicle, there are almost always interesting questions.

The nameplate identifies it as a DKW Sonderklasse, built in 1937. The chassis number and other information match, only the specified 1054 ccm engine is not in it. Instead an engine with 1.8 liter displacement and 42 hp is recorded in the registration papers. As is well known, both vehicles, the Sonderklasse and the W 24, were developed at the same time at Auto-Union. After a short period of existence, Auto-Union began aiming towards a uniform appearance of the various vehicle types and rationalization of chassis and many components. So, I know from the development records of the time that Sonderklasse with the W 24 engine were being tested. It has also been found in an Auto-Union file note dated April 29 1937: “Applies to: DKW Sonderklasse with WANDERER engine. The tests running with this vehicle must be carried out further and such a car is then also to be made available for export testing." Obviously, the idea was to offer such a 'traveling class' for the export markets.

Fortunately, the DKW Sonderklasse was scorned by the Wehrmacht in most cases during the war, and that is probably why numerous specimens survived the war in more or less good condition. Thanks to its good driving characteristics and solid construction, the Sonderklasse became in the lean post-war years a type worth preserving and were received repeated improvised repairs, often with engines from the Wanderer W 24, Opel, Ford or later in the GDR also with the Three-cylinder from the Wartburg. In my opinion, these automobiles are witnesses of a time in which every effort was made to keep economic life and traffic going, despite all the adversity caused by the occupation. One should also think of the vehicles with wood gas generators or the Ford-Eifel auxiliary tractors - now with a heavily reduced trailing axle – that continued to do heavy work for hauliers or coal traders.

And now comes the big crucial question that comes up every time I register for a rally: What do I register? A DKW Sonderklasse '37 (from an external point of view, probably), a Wanderer W 24 (in terms of engine and transmission), an Auto-Union 1800 (based on the Auto-Union 1500 off-road sports car from 1939 - developed from the special class off-road sports car with a reduced-displacement W 24 engine ), or is it just a 'curiosity', as my friend Theilmann called in his report on the Auto Union pre-war meeting in Klaffenbach in a cheeky way (Club News No. 83)? - I don’t know!<
br /> In his assessment of my 'hiking class', the well-known classic car expert and commentator Johannes Hübner from AvD took the view that this car should be valued as highly as an original vehicle, since the models and engines come from the same time and from the same house, from Auto-Union with its then central development facility in Chemnitz.

It should be added that towards the end of my restoration work I was able to acquire another complete Sonderklasse from 1939, the motor of which could be turned easily and which, according to the existing vehicle registration document, was once registered in Ingolstadt. This vehicle has also been restored by a DKW specialist. At that time, I never considered installing this original motor in my 'hiking class'. I love my 'hiking class' just as it is, as a reminder and a witness to a very difficult and very hard time with hunger and need, in which the reconstruction of our country had to be accomplished with whatever means necessary. Even if younger, media-conscious people, and opportunistic politicians from 'Stinkern' are romping around today, for me these vehicles are a piece of history worth preserving, which must remain our task, even if it is to be as a 'curious' DKW Sonderklasse with maybe a dubious past.

Heinz Zink

This story was originally published in German in the AUVC Magazine Volume 87 December 1996. The original story is here: https://auvc-archive.blogspot.com/2020/07/auvc-nachrichten-volume-87-december-1996.html

I believe that Auto-Union offered up to three warranty replacement V4 engines in the event of failure. After a fourth failure, the customer would be offered a Wanderer W 24 engine as an alternative.