DKW Auto-Union Project: GDR ingenuity - the transition from DKW to IFA

Despite its reputation as a manufacturer of quality automobiles, Germany had a relatively low ratio of personal car ownership before 1935. Vehicle production significantly ramped up under the National Socialists before they began implementing a series of increasingly restrictive controls on vehicle production and ownership as part of the Schell Plan of 1938. Then came the war, which saw manufacture of civilian automobiles banned, followed by confiscation of private motor cars for military use. Most confiscated cars were destroyed in the war leaving post-war Germany with relatively few privately owned cars on the road. The one exception to this rule were DKW cars, which were not confiscated by the army due to their two stroke engine.

In the postwar period, East Germany found itself poorly served in terms of an automotive industry as there were effectively only two civilian automobile manufacturers in the Soviet Occupation Zone - BMW and Auto-Union. Both companies had been damaged during the war by bombing as well as having lost plant and machinery confiscated for war reparations, hamstringing their ability to restore to production. Both companies relocated their operations to the western zone while the nationalized factories - operating as EMW and IFA - were shadows of their former selves.

By 1948, the former Audi plant in Zwickau was manufacturing the IFA F8, a replica of the prewar DKW F8 for a transport hungry public. Such was the desperate need for transport, that regardless of condition or damage, any remotely functional vehicle would be repaired and put back into service. The follow story from Frederick Bender was published in the Auto Union Veteranen Club magazine in 1997, detailing how he acquired what he thought was a 1941 DKW F8 and his subsequent journey to unravel his car's interesting history.

The Journey From Wartburg to DKW

"I made the decision to plunge further into the world of two-strokes and upgrade from the Wartburg to the DKW, and so began a "never ending story"......

This process has been surprising, sobering and sometimes amusing. Clever as I believed I was, in 1997 I bought a very well-preserved DKW F8 master-class estate, model year 1941, for a very good price from the new federal states [i.e., former East Germany].

Being an attentive buyer I checked the vehicle registration papers against those on the vehicle. I noted there were changes to the registration papers, but the original engine number was correct. I must point out my own lack of research in advance, because I thought this was the original vehicle registration of a DKW, It turned out that the only DKW parts on the vehicle were the engine, the petrol tank and the hubcaps. Everything else, including the chassis and body was from IFA. If I had done a bit more research before buying, I would have noticed that this so-called 'combination' wood body was only manufactured in the 1950s by the former Hornig body shop in Meerane for the DKW successor company, IFA. The Hornig company had been a body supplier to Auto-Union in the years before the war, building F5 roadster bodies. After the war, the company manufactured combination bodies of the type mentioned above for the IFA F8.

Had I done sufficient preliminary research, I should have noticed by looking under the vehicle at the frame and the front axle suspension, that DKW F8s have an oval frame (the F7 frame has a central rail with side members). My vehicle used the front axle of the IFA F9 (separate lever shock absorbers, modified wheel suspension), and this construction only came onto the market in autumn 1953, so clearly the frame of my F8 corresponds to that of the last version of this type.

Heaven knows what happened to the original DKW from which my motor vehicle registration came? In any case, there doesn't seem to be much left of the original car. Making a virtue out of necessity was the habit of GDR citizens at the time. From a collection of scrap metal or from a crashed DKW vehicle an entirely new vehicle would be built up from various components and spare parts. So, after intensive research in the automobile museum in Zwickau, at Auto-Union GmbH in Ingolstadt, and with well-known specialists, it turned out that my vehicle’s F8 frame had never been used in another vehicle but it was probably a replacement frame from the IFA spare parts store in the GDR.

Most of this information is not to be found in any book for normal classic car buyers. You are dependent on the help of other people and therefore I have to express my special thanks to the many very helpful 'automotive researchers' without whom such research would not have been possible!

Back to the F8 - The next step was to prepare for the TÜV inspection. What does a classic car hobbyist do to be as prepared as possible and have access to lots of original spare parts? Well, he gets a car transport trailer and buys a second vehicle as a parts donor of course! The suitability of everyday use of a classic car relies upon having effective brakes, functioning electrics and lighting, and working indicators. Since the rear lights only have a yellow and a red window, but the red one is already occupied by the rear light, the F 8 friend has no choice but to opt for a so-called single-circuit system. The yellow light functions both as direction indicator and brake light. This in turn is controlled by an extra relay. Since the Bosch company apparently still has a supply of new old stock, I was able to acquire such a 6-volt relay. IFA brake pads are easy to get and installation was really just a lot of screwing and patience. I had enough original spare parts and fortunately the standard for screws and bearings has not changed.

The fully functional indicators in the B-pillar should also be mentioned. In conjunction with a properly working flashing position, these are permitted but for safety reasons, after reviewing the wiring, I decided to disconnect them and cover them over. Now all I had to do was get a new 6-volt battery and I was ready to go. In this vehicle, equipped with a Dynastart system, "go” means you turn the ignition key and press the starter button on the floor with your right foot and give a little gas with your left foot.

Provided the above starter system works, you then hear the tinny two-stroke sound of a 690 ccm, two-cylinder DKW engine. It is lubricated with a commercially available two-stroke mixture, i.e., with super lead-free and 2T oil in a ratio of 1:25. By the way, the Dynastart system has to perform the function of alternator and starter at the same time, so it has to work both as a generator and as an electromagnet.

To the delight of the previous owner, TÜV Rheinland has registered the vehicle as a DKW again, just one with an IFA body. It's not that bad, because even the examiner couldn't distinguish the subtleties.

Infected with the F 8 fever, in mid-1997 I acquired the four-seater IFA F 8 luxury convertible, which was also presented at the 1954 Leipzig Trade Fair. This so-called Glaser convertible with the large EMW fenders and headlights has a first-class substance, is partly dismantled, but is said to be complete! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !"