Seeing that it’s a DKW and not a B-Body, some of you might be tempted to skip this CC. If you must, but know that this is a very significant historical car, and one I’d pretty much given up on finding in Eugene. It’s both the forerunner of all modern Audis as well as the successor to the very first mass-produced front wheel drive cars. The fact that it has a two-stroke engine lends it even that much more interest. But the DKW story is big, so I’ll try to condense it: 3000 words=6000 words, in DKW speak.
Before DKW popularized front wheel drive, it also did much the same thing with two-stroke engines, having given up on a very brief attempt at a steam-driven automobile which was the origin of its name(Dampf Kraft Wagen). In 1919, DKW created this little 18cc two-stroke motor to be an alternative for the toy steam engines popular at the time. It produced .25 hp, and was called the Das Knaben Wunsch (The Boy’s Wish). I’m sure it was every mother’s wish to have a two-stroke engine running in the living room with its oily exhaust.
Enlarged to 118cc with 1hp output, the now called Das Kleine Wunder (The Little Wonder) was sent outside where it belonged to be used as an auxiliary engine to power bicycles. That led to genuine motorcycles, and within a few short years, DKW quickly grew to be the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. Its brilliant RT125 of 1939 was the most advanced light bike in the world, and soon became the most copied one ever, including the Harley Hummer.
DKW was broadminded; in addition to steam and two strokes, they also developed and sold a light EV truck and delivery vehicle called the DEW (Der Elektrishe Wagen). No DAW (Der Atomische Wagen), as far as I know.
But DKW did jump into the automobile market, initially with two-stroke rear-wheel drive cars. But in 1931 it launched what would become the first mass-produced front-wheel drive car, the F1, with a transverse 584 cc two-stroke twin, producing 15 hp.
The DKW line was quickly and steadily developed through the thirties, culminating in the F7 of 1937. DKWs of this time rode on a central frame and the lower-end versions had bodies that were in part made of artificial leather fabric stretched over wooden frames. Light weight, for small engines: the F7 had all of 20 hp.
Here we can see the tiny 600 or 700cc twin, as well as the fuel barrel, in which the 40-1 gas-oil mixture was stored. No fuel pump needed here.
In 1934, DKW created the Auto Union along with the more upscale brands Horch, Audi and Wanderer. A tactic to survive the Depression, undoubtedly. But DKW was the volume leader, by far, and occupied a comfortable niche in the German industry. And it was the only one of the four that survived the war, barely.
The big breakthrough into the modern streamlined era was planned for 1940, with the very advanced and slippery (Cd: 0.42) DKW F9. It re-arranged the drive-train, with the new 896cc triple set low in front of the drive wheels. If you want to know where the Saab 92 got all of its ideas, look no further.
Thanks to its very space-efficient fwd configuration, the F9 was roomier inside than the VW Beetle, and its descendants were know for fine dynamic qualities. This really is the Ur-Audi.
Needless to say, WW2 put the kibosh on the F9, and when that little inconvenience was finally over, DKW found itself in the Russian sector. Now renamed IFA, the F9 was put into production in 1949, and eventually spawned the Wartburg, East Germany’s primary upper-mid-class car.
Re-establishing DKW/Auto Union in Western Germany after the war a huge challenge. But eventually, motorcycles, light vans (Schnellaster), and by 1950, the F9-based F89 sedan finally saw the light of day. Now both sides of the Iron curtain were building practically identical cars.
The F89 evolved into the F91, and that into the F93/F94, the subject of our find that has found its unlikely last resting spot here in a field in Eugene. How did that happen? Thanks to the Great Import Boom of the mid-late fifties, when everything from Abarth to Zundapp was scooped up by eager Americans looking for something decidedly non-vanilla. The DKW was one of the more popular ones in the 1955 -1960 period, and even its doppelganger the Wartburg found some takers. Now that would be a find.
Well, finding this fine F94 was quite a thrill; it’s been decades since the last one I’ve seen. When I first moved to LA in 1977, there were still some DKWs around; mostly sitting in driveways though. I may have seen one or two with its tell-tale plume of blue smoke trailing it still running. Anyway, it seems that this particular car made it all the way from Nebraska to Oregon; probably someone coming out to the U of O. University towns tended to be a hot bed for two-stroke Saabs and DKWs; intellectuals love to be able to wrap themselves with an argument of superiority about things like the two stroke engine: “Only seven moving parts!” Never mind the blue smoky exhaust.
Well, the DKW three cylinder did have some merit. Its biggest was proudly displayed on its flanks and in advertisement; actually, it was its very name: 3=6. Thanks to twice as many power impulses as a four stroke, the little 896cc triple did feel as smooth as an inline six. Well, during acceleration or steady running, that is. It sounded more like a popcorn popper under de-acceleration, which is also why DKWs (and Saabs) had free-wheeling. Two strokes are none too happy under engine-braking conditions, and tended to foul their plugs (or worse) if forced to do so. Freewheeling disengaged the engine as soon as the throttle was lifted (over-running).
Handy for making clutchless shifts, but it demanded much of the brakes, one of the major downsides in the pre-disc brake era. DKWs did have bigger than average drums to help compensate. But for that reason alone, DKWs were not popular in the Alpine regions; drivers (rightfully) didn’t trust the brakes heading down long alpine passes. DKWs were seen as flat-lander cars. And this one has Nebraska plates.
Speaking of engines, let’s lift the hood of this one and check it out. The paint is long gone, but all the trim pieces are aging quite well.
Ooops; it’s gone AWOL. Given how tiny it is, it could have been lifted out by one person. The DKW motor had no water pump, relying on the thermo-siphon principle to circulate the coolant to its high-mounted radiator.
Let’s check out the other end, never know what one might find there. Love those chrome strips against the rust.
Sure enough, here it is, although I don’t see the seven moving parts. The little brief-case sized buzz-bomb was rated at 42 (DIN) hp @4200 rpm. That’s considerably more than the VW’s then 30 (DIN) hp, and gave this DKW a top speed of 80 mph.
The likely cause of this engine’s demise, as with so many other DKW engines, was that on long downhills with closed throttle, or in cold weather when the heavier oil separated in the tank, the engine received insufficient lubrication. That ruined lots of these motors, and was a major cause of their ultimate demise.
Here’s what it once looked like. Since oil fouling was a problem, having a hearty spark in the pre-solid state ignition era was important, hence the triple coils. The “distributor” on the front of the crankshaft had three sets of points too. Those must have been fun to change.
A view into an intact engine compartment. Wonder how long our CC DKW ran before it was disemboweled?
The two door sedan/coupe F93 sported a handsome roof with a wrap-around rear window that gave it quite a natty appearance in the mid-late fifties, compared to the VW anyway. Call me a Kraut, but this coupe really speaks to me. It was the equivalent to Olds and Buick coupes of the time.
The four-door sedan and the two-door wagon “Universal” shared a longer wheelbase, hence the F94 designation. The wagon really took advantage of the fwd, with a low load floor and lots of cargo room. The DKW Avant.
One thing that all DKWs of this series all shared were the suicide front doors. Rather surprising too, since most manufacturers got away from that by this time. For what it’s worth, it really did make getting into cars rather pleasant, especially small ones.
These DKWs were held in high regard for their fine road manners. The front wheel drive meant a high degree of stability at speed and in windy conditions, excellent traction, and generally good handling. The old fwd bugaboo of heavy steering was largely mitigated by an excellent and accurate rack and pinon gear, which was not that common in Central Europe then.
An upscale version of the DKW appeared in 1958, the Auto Union 1000, with a larger 50 hp 980 cc engine, and a genuine pillar-less hardtop roof. The choice of calling it an Auto Union was a bit odd, since that name had never been used on production cars before. Why not resurrect the Audi, Horch or Wanderer names?
The reason I’ve had DKWs and Auto Unions on the brain lately is that I was recently sent a bunch of old family pictures, and the car ones all went to me (thanks Sis!). This is one of an cousin of my father’s, who lived in northern Germany, and arrived for a visit in the summer of 1959 in an Auto Union 1000 coupe. Hot stuff! She was a widow, and came with her teenage son, who here has his head in the trunk. Don’t ask how we did it (maybe the son rode in the trunk), but they took my whole family for a day outing into Sud Tirol, where we drove on a remaining original segment of a Roman road. I’m quite sure that this shot is of that road. They knew how to build roads that lasted! And being car-less, I remember every one of these rare trips perfectly, except for the details of how squeezed in we were. Conveniently repressed.
In 1964, the DKW 3=6 and Auto Union 100 was replaced by the DKW F102, the last to carry a two-stroke engine. In every other way a very modern sedan, the F102 also now had oil-injection, so that the mixture no longer had to be measured out in the tank, and avoiding the oil-starvation problems of the earlier DKWs. But it was too little, too late. The two-stroke had no future, most of all because of looming emission regulations. And the two stroke never was quite as efficient with fuel as the ever-more efficient four-strokes being developed.
Mercedes (reluctantly probably) had to bail out Auto Union back in 1958, in the way things were typically done in Germany back then. The Mercedes engineers developed a modern new four stroke four. With the new engine and front grille, the DKW now metamorphosed into the Audi (F103), resurrecting the name that had graced many fine cars in the pre-war era.
Mercedes wanted out of Auto Union, and engineered a deal whereby VW would take on ownership, in 1964. This coincided with the development of the new engine, which would go on to power a number of cars outside of Audi, including the Porsche 924, and a motley assortment of AMC cars when VW handily sold off the engine to them during the energy crisis.
The Audi- F103 came in versions from 60 to 90 hp, whence the designations. Only the Super 90 was imported to the US, and I remember seeing them in the showroom in Towson in 1969, shortly after I had ridden in my godfather’s new S90 in Austria that summer. It’s been ages since I’ve seen one, so I’m keeping my eyes peeled. If I can find a DKW, an Audi S90 shouldn’t be that hard. For that matter, I’d be thrilled to find one of the first generation 100s too. Audi’s reputation for fragility goes back a long way too, even before they were called that. Blame it on the family genes.
I’ve said it before, and I will say it again, but there are few companies with such a consistent lineage of brand dna. The 3=6 really was the proto-Audi for every subsequent Audi developed car to come, up to this date. And they all had a longitudinally mounted engine hanged in front of the front wheel, and front wheel drive. Even though later cars had four wheel drive, they were all developed as front wheel drives. And they all share that DNA. The F102 and F103, the B1-B4 Audi 80/90/4000/5000, B5-B7 Audi A4. Not until the B8 A4/A5 did they move the front differential ahead of the clutch, allowing the front axle to be moved forward. The B1, B2 and B5 Volkswagen Passat shared the same Audi developed platform, The B3, B4, B6 and B7 Passat had VW developed platforms with Golf-derived transverse engined packages. And, of course the Audi 100 and all its itterations shared the ubiquitous Audi configuration, up intil the present day A6. And not to forget, so did the Audi A8, Volkswagen Phaeton and Bentley Continental. So, yes, the present day Bentley can trace its lineage to this little proto-Audi.
Do I see a DS Citroen behind the DKW in that last pic?Great writeup Paul very rare cars and yes I knew where SAAB got its ideas from they simply did a minor restyle for the 92 but you cant tell me Ferdi Porsche wasnt looking at these when he drew the beetle either he used a Tatra power train in the back. No good design ever goes uncopied.
Ironic now that VW actually promoted the fact they were using opposition engines for their Audi 90 they were desperate to get away from being a one trick outfit in the 60s the Beetle was starting to look very old everywhere except the US by then.
Great find is there anything you cant unearth Paul?
More like the DKW cribbing the Volkswagen with the F9, at least in its basic shape. The F9 appeared in 1940; the Beetle long before then.
The VW origin story is not nearly as simple as it’s often made out to be, and the only (legally liable) thing Porsche really borrowed from the Tatra were a few details. Porsche started work on prototypes for the VW going quite far back.
Everybody always looks at what others are doing; just don’t get caught with your fingers in the cookie jar.
You left out the NSU connections in the German auto incestious history. The first Beetles were built by NSU but they couldn’t handle the production so they went to VW. The first water cooled VWs were rebadged NSUs. NSU was also the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the last half of the 1950s. When their development of the Wankel put them under, they were sold to Audi.
Hi Paul,
Excellent article, but perhaps the “cribbing” may not be too far off the mark. Take a look at the DKW Schweibeklasse (built in 1934) and the original designs for what became the VW Beetle. See any similarity? Sure! Erwin Komenda, Chief designer for Auto Union, was in charge of designing the body for the Porsche prototype. Is it cribbing if the same guy is penning the designs? Maybe….
Cheers!
Steve
Marvelous! So much new stuff about one of my favorite marques.
Back in grad school I shared a house with a couple of other deutschophile intellectuals, enamored with the apparent elegance of seven moving parts, and somehow we ended up owning a ’62 DKW Junior. You can’t appreciate from a photo just how cute this 3/4-scale fifties car is. It had us under a spell that we would restore the little wonder. It didn’t run of course.
One morning I pulled off the head, having no valves it’s just a few bolts. Did I mention it had been sitting out in a Massachusetts field? The pistons and cylinder walls were one continuous surface of corrosion. So much for that idea. We listed it in Hemmings, some guy gave us $25 and towed it away.
I debated whether to mention the Junior, so thanks for filling in that part of the story. Yes, it sure does have a 3/4 scale ’56 Ford look to it. And the Auto Union 100SP really looks like a scaled down T-bird.
Ah yes, I was wondering when the 1000SP would come up in the discussion. It turns out that production of the baby T-Birds was very low and they are exceedingly pricey in good condition today.
The Simca Aronde Plein Ciel was another car that borrowed a lot from the two-seat T-Bird.
Fabulous piece. I am learning so much today. From time to time, I have kind of wondered about how Audi and Auto Union and DKW fit together, and now I know. What a day – from Marion Indiana and Cincinnati Ohio via 500 thousand clear channel watts to the forests of Germany. Like no other web site in the world.
That thing looks like a prime restoration candidate. The sheet metal looks straight and solid, and it looks like pretty much all the pieces are there. Musta used some good quality steel in those days. I wish I had the resources to take it on.
A friend of mine rescued a wagon from the scrapyard a number of years ago. Neat little cars. The engine was seized problem from the issue you described but definitely decent enough otherwise. The engine compartment was neat with the three coils dominating.
I just realized my old Rx-7 is in the background this shot too – lovely car.
Would a Suzuki 3 pot fit in that would solve the motivation problems and the parts are findable
Fun stuff about cars I know nothing about!
“Seeing that it’s a DKW and not a B-Body…”
Huh? Do ’67 Coronet taxis have a big following around here?
Neat bit of history there! That Black F93 coupe up there is a pretty sexy machine. I actually caught myself staring at it for a few minutes trying to figure out what was so appealing. Maybe It’s the lack of chrome?
The 3=6 reminds me of Clifford’s 6=8 logos.
Clifford’s 6=8 immediately came to my mind too. Wonder if that is where they got the idea?
The condition of the trim compared to the rest is quite incredible, I’m guessing that chrome isn’t over cheap pot metal.
Looks like stainless rather than plated steel it looks great just needs a shot of clear to preserve it
Facinating article Paul! There was an F94 in my home town while I was growing up through the 80s, haven’t seen that car for years though, and it’s been a few months since the last one popped up here on trademe. I love the look of them – especially that black coupe – and I must say, Bryce’s suggestion of a 3-cylinder Suzuki transplant is intriguing! Or a Mazda rotary engine to increase the weirdness factor…!
A mechanic in the garage next to my office has a late model Deek, probably an F93 , but it only comes out for high days and holidays. I think there is a second one in town as well, since they tend to appear together. I never realised this body shape dated back to 1940, it would have been very advanced then.
Glad they went with “Audi” instead of “Horch,” which sounds like something you do after too much Oktoberfest-ing.
Audi and Horch were of course both founded by Herr August Horch. When he left the Horch company he needed a new name for his new product so he used the latin translation of Horch.( which is where our modern word “audio” comes from).
Like Ranson Olds starting another car company and calling it REO.
Not necessarily – I’m sure by the time they could afford TV ads, the entire North American continent would be pronouncing “Horch” to rhyme with “porch”.
That was a great encapsulation of the DKW Audi history. You covered a lot of ground in that one. I knew a fair amount of this information already, but the part that I’d forgotten was the MB bailout in the late 50′s (Silly me, I wasn’t born yet!). I’m trying to imagine a modern day ad like the one shown above that would brag about all of the assistance it got from other car companies…
The new 2012 Dodge Avenger! With a Mopar engine, a Mercedes transmission, a Fiat tuned suspension and Mitsubishi electronics! (wait, this has already happened)…
Finally, du bist ein kraut! Why you’d want to be known as a cabbage is beyond me.
Mazda rotary replacement engine makes sense- torqueless wonder that revs high, much like the 2-stroke.
I thought it would be good in a 2-stroke SAAB, but haven’t seen any.
another great article, paul. i’m not accomplishing anything at work today! i’m curious about the east/west division of dkw after the war. how can a company be on both sides of the iron curtain? is it possible that audi is just a doppelganger company and not the true descendant of dkw?
DKW was located in Zwickau, which was in the Russian sector. Like pretty much everything else there, the factory was re-organized as a state-owned enterprise (IFA), and started churning out what it was tooled up for.
The details of the re-establishment of DKW/Auto Union in the West is not readily available to me. Presumably, some of the owners took it on themselves, starting with a large parts facility Dusseldorf. It took several years to finally resume production, starting with the motorbikes, the vans, and finally the the cars.
The IFA F9 and DKW F89 were not truly identical, and I don’t know that any parts would have interchanged. DKW had to tool up the new F89 from scratch, and probably made changes from the original F9 plans, at least to some extent.
The old Zwickau IFA factory made VW Polos at one point, but I’m not sure if it’s still currently in use.
thanks, paul.
btw, i’ll never look at the saab 92 the same again. i can’t believe that i thought audi was just an upscale vw.
Great piece! Man, it is really a long time since I’ve seen one of those. Of course I did see one now and then in the Seattle area back in the 50′s or 60′s. Not knowing much about them, one missed all the areas in which they were ahead of their time, and only saw the front-opening front doors and the blue smoke tails.
I shouldn’t be surprised that there’s a retired-looking Citroen across the field in the first pic. Those are practically common compared to DKW’s.
These are really cool looking, I especially like the hardtop. I mentioned it earlier, but these really remind me of the BMW 501/502 ‘Baroque Angel’ that was made from 1952-1964. I wasn’t aware they made a four door 3=6 until I saw this article.
Hi,
I don’t know about the Zwickau plant, but the Eisenach plant that made the Wartburg went on to make Opels. Now here’s six degrees of separation for you:
As you mentioned, the DKW was built pre-war at Eisenach which fell into Russian hands and became the Wartburg. Now, the Wartburg was made for 40 years, until the fall of the Berlin wall, when they became unprofitable in comparison with used Ossi cars. The plant was then sold to Opel, who built the Vauxhall Vectra there. Now, as we all know the Vectra is the base of the Saab 900 post-GM. Saab, that is who got their start cribbing the DKW to engineer their 92, which brings us back to where we started.
what a find! these are very rare to come across here in Germany, never even thought they were sold in the U.S.!
to add up on history, I think these were built under license in Brazil as well for some decades, long after their demise in Europe.
Greetings all,
Myself and these cars go way back. I stumbled upon this article in a random search of images of DKW 3=6 cars and clicked on this 4 door. Nice concise article on their history.
My initiation to these cars came in 1960 when my father came home in a used 1957 3=6 Coupe Deluxe. I fell in love with it. A far cry from his previous 1951 Ford Customline! My mother hated it. Oh well. In 1963 Dad traded it for a 1960 Auto Union 1000 Std Coupe. Nice car!! It died in
’65 so we ended up with a ’61 Corvair Monza Coupe followed by a brand new 1967 Ford Cortina GT What a car!!! I learned how to drive standard trans in that car. We followed that with a ’72 Mazda Rx-2 (new) and a ’74 Rx-4, his last car. But I digress. while my father’s ’60 1000 was sitting we aquired a ’56 3=6 coupe deluxe that just sat. Mom eventually got rid of both, to my chagrin. Eventually in the early ’80′s I ran across a ’59 3=6 four door like this one for sale. Sold my ’60 ragtop Beetle and drove home a happy DKW owner. I got REALLY good at measuring oil/gas, and that bad boy got me around with nary a plume of blue smoke. I had no problems with it other than to keep on filing down the points to keep it running. My connection vanished and eventually had to park it. Then I sold it. Ah, for want of the internet and DKW Club back then!! I want another. My perfect Deek would be a ’56 3=6 coupe Deluxe like the one pictured above. I have since had a ’72 Citroen DS 21. But It’s gone too and now have a 2004 Cooper S. Would love to own an early ’70′s SAAB 96.
I gotta look around this sight more, now that I’ve found it.
Welcome to CC, and thanks for sharing your story. You grew up in among some interesting cars indeed. Lucky you. Good luck on finding your Deek. That’s the one I would most want too.
diiaclassic@ymail.com
Thanks for the great article. It was very nostalgic for me. My father purchased a DKW coupe in the early sixties, after deciding against buying a Borgward. He even drove it to Eugene one time. This car was retired from service after a crankshaft bearing failed due to corrosion from coolant leakage as a result of a blown head gasket. The crankshaft was a pressed together design with ball, or roller bearings( i can’t remember which) rather than the insert bearings usually used on four cycle engines. This car featured a saxomat clutch which did away with a clutch pedal but still required manual shifting of transmission gears. The dealer who sold us this car showed my dad a stunt which he enjoyed repeating for his grearhead friends. The DKW had three ignition coils, one for each sparkkplug. My dad would disconnect the high tension lead from two of the coils with the engine running. It would continue to run with only one cylinder receiving spark. My dad sold the car to a neighbor, who removed the body and planned to make a trailer for his sailboat from the chassis. I still have the hood ornament!