DKW Hebmuller and Karmann specials

The German karosseriewerks of Hebmuller and Karmann are more closely associated with Volkswagen these days, but both companies had long and illustrious histories manufacturing bodies for a wide range of German car companies. Less well known than their Volkswagen products are the convertibles and sport specials these two bodyworks built for DKW in much smaller numbers.

Baur Karosserie
Baur Karosseriewerke of Stuttgart had a longstanding relationship with Auto Union, manufacturing steel-bodied cabriolets for Audi, Wanderer and DKW during the prewar years. In 1939 Baur manufactured the original panels for the pre-production DKW F9. Although it's hard to know exactly how many bodies Baur constructed, approximately twenty F9s were assembled during the war years and at least five more cars were assembled by IFA from a stockpile of spare panels discovered in the Audiwerkes in Zwickau in 1948. In the postwar period, Baur provided DKW with steel replacement bodies the prewar F7 and F8 chassis which were also sold as the DKW F10, for a short time in 1950, however, the relationship seems to have soured and Baur were frozen out of the relationship with Auto Union. https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2017/07/dkws-forgotten-model-dkw-f10.html

Karmann Karosserie
Despite their earlier relationship, Auto-Union chose not to contract with Baur to manufacture new panels for the F89P Meisterklasse, despite Baur having manufactured the panels for the DKW F9 in 1939. Instead, Auto-Union turned to Karmann Karosserie of Osnabruck to prepare the body panels for the first DKW F89P sedans and cabriolets that were exhibited in 1950, as Auto Union did not have any production facilities of their own. Auto-Union shipped the chassis and engines to Karmann, who assembled the cars in Osnabruck before shipping them back to Ingolstadt and then on to the exhibition.

Shortly after Auto-Union began series production of the F89P Meisterklasse in their new Düsseldorf plant in late 1950, Karmann were contracted to build four-seat convertibles on the Meisterklasse platform.


Hebmuller Karosserie
Auto-Union also contracted with Hebmüller to build a sporty two-seater sporty convertible and coupe. Between August 1951 and September 1952 Hebmuller built 85 examples of the two-seater ‘luxus cabriolet’, however, in late 1952 the Hebmuller Karosseriewerke was burned to the ground in a catastrophic fire.

Due to a problem with the company’s insurance policy, Hebmuller was unable to rebuild their factory and was declared bankrupt. This led Auto-Union to contract Karmann to also build the two-seater cabriolet model.

The two-seater Luxus coupe was certainly the most expensive model in the DKW F89P range. Unfortunately, due the fire at the Hebmuller factory, only a tiny number of these exotic cars were built and very few survive.
https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2020/06/1952-dkwkarmann-meisterklasse-luxus.html

Back to Karmann Karosserie

Between August 1950 and February 1953 Karmann built 4,943 F89P four-seat cabriolets with the standard 3-speed gearbox. Between February 1953 and May 1953 a further 102 four seat cabriolets were built with the new 4-speed gearbox.

In late 1953 Auto-Union introduced the F91 Sonderklasse with the three-cylinder 900cc engine. The F91 and F89P were externally identical except for addition of the 3=6 badge on the front wing of the F91 and both models continued on sale together for several months. By the end of the year, the F89P was dropped in price and offered as the brand’s budget offering. By 1954 it had been relegated as an export model before being withdrawn from sale that year.

Karmann continued building two and four-seat convertibles for DKW F91, manufacturing 1,512 four-seat cabriolets, 432 two-seat cabriolets and 25 two-seat coupes between 1953 and 1955. The original F91 Karmann four-seat cabriolet from the Frankfurt-um-Main exhibition has been discovered in the US. https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2023/10/dkw-barnfind-collection-in-california.html

In September 1955 Auto-Union unveiled the “Big DKW 3=6” at the Frankfurt International Motor Show (IAA) and the model range naturally included the two and four-seat Karmann convertibles.

In the run-up to that year’s International Motor Show, Karmann in Osnabrück completed three vehicles of each version. Small-batch production proceeded slowly in January 1956 and ended on 28th September 1956 with the delivery of the hundredth four-seater convertible. The last two-seater, serial number 202, had been delivered the day before.
https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2021/01/1956-dkw-grosse-36-cabriolet.html

Identifying Karmann-built cars

While the DKW chassis numbers ran sequentially during series production, without distinction to body styles, Karmann assigned a total of four different indices for their body serial numbers. Almost all Karmann built cars can thus be clearly identified. The body numbers of the four-seaters pre-production car built in 1955 at the start of production begin with the index 0031/, followed by the body numbers 1 to 3. The 1955 two-seater convertible has the index 0032/, followed by the production numbers 1 to 3.

One of each of the 1955 test and exhibition vehicles have survived. A four-seater with body number 3, formerly the private car of Wilhelm Karmann, is in the Melle vehicle museum. For a long time it was the only surviving four-seater known. The cobalt blue two-seater convertible with body number 2, originally used by DKW director Ludwig Hensel, is privately owned in the Ruhr area and can be regularly admired at events.

For series production in 1956, the body number of the four-seater convertible is 0033/ with consecutive production numbers 1 to 100, while the two-seater bears the body number 0034/ with the serial numbers 1 to 202. The prototypes of the facelift version from 1957 should have the body numbers 0035/ as a four-seater and 0036/ as a two-seater, but unfortunately, neither of the two cars built appear to have survived.

While the four-seater convertibles for the DKW F89P and DKW F91 models achieved four-digit production numbers, the Auto-Union sales department saw few sales opportunities for a convertible based on the big DKW F93 3=6, which influenced the planning at Karmann. While the US DKW importer, Peter Satori, had repeatedly asked for a thoroughbred, inexpensive DKW sports car for the important US market, only 34 two-and four-seater convertibles found their way to the USA.

Series production at Karmann was carried out in individual lots. Presumably because of this two two-seaters were accidentally assigned the body number 60. The first number 60 was painted purple-red and left the Karmann factory on May 17, 1956, being transported from Osnabrück to the DKW plant in Düsseldorf by train. The second number 60, which of course had a different chassis number, was delivered to Auto-Union GmbH on May 24, 1956. One of the cars was shipped to Berlin and the other to Sweden. The double assignment of the body number was only discovered because both vehicles have survived until today.