DKW Auto-Union Project: IFA F8

Thursday, 18 October 2018

IFA F8

In 1949, automobile production restarted at the old Audi factories in Zwickau. As was the case everywhere in Europe, the company looked back to its prewar models, but here the situation was rather complicated. DKW's manufacturing process had been a very disjointed affair, with engines manufactured at DKW’s motorcycle and engine works at Zschopau, wooden bodies constructed at the Spandau karoseriewerkes outside Berlin, and chassis built in the Audi factory in Chemnitz. In addition, incidental fittings were manufactured by Jorge Rasmussen's Framo company in Frankenberg, while instruments, shock absorbers, brakes and other parts were supplied by a variety of manufacturers scattered around the country. All these components were shipped the Audi factory, where final assembly was completed.

In the aftermath of the war the majority of the company’s prewar suppliers emigrated to the West while Auto-Union’s industrial facilities had been systematically dismantled by the Soviets. The Spandau karosserieworks, while effectively deep inside East Germany, lay just within the borders of West Berlin, where it proved no use to anybody. Therefore, in order to restart vehicle production in East Germany it was necessary to rebuild the entire automotive supply chain. To meet this challenge the East German authorities created an economic interest group called "IFA", an abbreviation in German for "Industrial Administration of Construction of Motor Vehicles" to bring together the surviving automotive businesses and their suppliers under a single banner.

As in the west, IFA were able to begin manufacturing the DKW F8 chassis and 700cc two cylinder two-stroke engine rather quickly. There were numerous DKW service and repair agencies scattered throughout the zone with a stock of replacement chassis, blueprints and engine reconditioning machinery. These were gathered together in the former Wanderer works in Chemnitz (now renamed “Karl-Marx-Stadt”).

Without access to the Spandauwerkes, a new body builder was required, but fortunately there were several at hand. The Glaser bodyworks had been closely aligned to the prewar Auto-Union group before the war, exclusively manufacturing steel bodies for Audi, Horch, DKW and Wanderer, including the F8 Luxus export model. Glaser was nationalized under IFA and renamed "Dresden Karosseriewerke." F8 rolling chassis were shipped from the the engine works at Karl-Marx-Stadt to the Dresden works where they were fitted with wooden bodies, similar to the prewar Spandau body.

The Dresden Karosseriewerke

The first IFA F8 was exhibited at the Leipzig Fair in 1948, but series production did not really start until 1949. There was very little difference between these cars and the prewar DKW F8, the IFAs F8 having different bumpers and a new grille logo. From the start a large range of models and variants were available, including a limousine, a slab sided delivery van, a ‘family style’ shooting break kombi and even a convertible. The van and kombi bodies were manufactured by the former Hornig Karosseriewerkes in Meerane. The convertibles, identical in all respects to the DKW "Front Luxus" four-seater, lost their convertible top and were sold simply as an open tourer. In 1950 a new all steel body appeared with more modern, sporty lines. The wings and the bonnet were smoothly integrated, as were the headlights. The 'Luxus Cabriolet' was reminiscent of the DKW F10 designed by the Stuttgart coach-builder, Baur. This is not surprising as Auto-Union in Ingolstadt, had quickly withdrawn the Baur bodied F10 in 1950 when the DKW F89P became available, leading Baur to offer its services to IFA, much to DKW's annoyance. Due to its greater cost, most Luxus Cabriolets were exported to the west to bring in much needed hard currency. https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2017/07/dkws-forgotten-model-dkw-f10.html

Aside from the few minor details already mentioned, the IFA F8 was practically identical to the prewar DKW. On the same slightly oval chassis was the same indestructible 690 cc twin, water cooled two-stroke engine, delivering 20 hp on a 4% oil-petrol mixture. The engine was mounted transversely. The freewheel mechanism was mounted at the end of the crankshaft. The separate gearbox, derived from the old motorcycling technology from DKW, was driven by a double roller chain. The clutch was still of the "motorcycle" type multi-disc in an oil bath. The gearbox had three speeds while the DKW F8 had four. Gear change remained via a lever mounted on the dashboard. Drive to the front wheels was transmitted on the gearbox side by two hardy rubber donuts and on the wheel side by two gimbals still as simplistic as before. The front and rear transverse leaf springs, in combination with the famous floating axle DKW, made for a comfort ride, regardless of road conditions. Thanks to the car’s low weight, cable brakes could, finally, be considered as good retarders. The almost legendary ease of starting the DKW was provided by a "Dynastart" mounted at the end of the crankshaft, opposite side to the freewheel. Cooling was via a front mounted radiator without water pump via the thermosyphon process.

Just over 26,000 IFA F8s were assembled on the old Audi production line in Zwickau between 1949 and 1955. The car was widely exported to western and northern European markets, capitalizing on the old DKW sales network by marketing a familiar vehicle at a time when the new Auto-Union was unable to put a sedan car on the market.