1954 DKW F800 Schnellaster

The DKW F89L Schellaster (fast-truck) was introduced in 1949 into a market desperate for light commercial transport. The first examples combined the prewar 700cc engine and the motorcycle type gearbox on a new ladder chassis with torsion bar rear suspension. The 700cc engine was not particularly powerful and the motorcycle gearbox was not really up to the stress of commercial use. Consequently, when a new four speed gearbox was developed in 1951, it was prioritized for use in the F89L. The four speed gearbox would not be available in the F89P passenger car until late in 1953.

By 1953 the new three cylinder 900cc two stroke engine had been developed and was made available in a variant of the F89P passenger car as an engine upgrade option. Shortly afterwards the triple engine variant was redesignated the F91. The triple engine came with a much more modern and capable four speed inline gearbox (as opposed to the side mounted, chain drive gearbox of the F89L and P). For a very brief period at the end of 1953 and early 1954, the twin cylinder 700cc engine for the Schnellaster was revised and modified with new a new block and crankshaft and mated with the inline gearbox desined for the triple engine. The whole powertrain was mounted inline in the engine bay. This model was variously designated the F800 - even though it was still 700cc capacity - or the DKW 30HP Schnellaster, indicating its uplifted horsepower over the 22HP F89L version. By mid-1954, this interim model was replaced by the DKW 3=6 Schnellaster.

DKW 3=6 Schnellaster brochure: https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2020/03/dkw-schnellaster-french-brochure.html
1952 DKW Schnellaster: https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2019/02/1952-new-dkw-schnellaster.html
Early development part one: https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-development-of-dkw-schnellaster.html
Part two: https://dkwautounionproject.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-f89l-schnellaster-with-four-speed.html