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Automobiles made after WWII
As the Auto Union company originally was situated in Saxony in what became the
German Democratic Republic, it took some time before they gathered after the war
was ended. The company was registered again in West Germany as Auto Union GMBH
in 1949, first as a spare-part provider, but soon to take up production of the
RT 125 motorcycle and a newly developed delivery van, called a Schnellaster
F800. Their first line of production took place in Düsseldorf. This van used the
same engine as the last F8 made before the war.
Their first passenger car was the F89 using the body from the prototype F9 made
before the war and the 2 cylinder two-stroke engine from the last F8. Production
went on until it was released by the successful 3 cylinder engine which came
with the F91. The F91 was in production from 1953 to 1955, and was replaced by
the somewhat larger F93 in 1956. The F91 and F93 models all had 900 cc
3-cylinder two-stroke engines, the first ones delivering 34 hp, and the last
ones 38 hp. The ignition system of these engines comprised three independent
sets of points and coils, one for each cylinder, with the points mounted in a
cluster around a single lobed cam at the front end of the crank shaft. The
cooling system was of the free convection type assisted by a fan driven from a
pulley mounted at the front end of the crank shaft.
The F93 was produced until 1959, and was in turn replaced by the AU1000. These
models where produced with a 1000 cc two-stroke engine, with a choice between 44
or 50 hp S versions until 1963. During this transition, production was also
moved from Düsseldorf to Ingolstadt where Audi still have their production. From
1957, these cars could be fitted with an optional saxomat, an automatic clutch
and, at the time it was the only small car offering this feature. The last
versions of the AU1000S also had disk brakes as option, an early development for
this technology. A sporting 2+2 seater version was also available as the AU1000
Sp from 1957 to 1964, the first years only as a coupé and from 1962 also as a
convertible.
In 1956, the very rare DKW Monza was put into small scale production on a
private initiative. This was a sporting, two-seater body made of glassfiber
mounted on a standard F93 frame. The car was first called Solitude, but got its
final name from the several long distance speed records it made on the Monza
racing track in Italy in November 1956. Running in FIA class G, it set several
new records, among them 48 hours with average speed 140.961 km/h, 10.000 km with
average speed 139.453 km/h and 72 hours with average speed 139.459 km/h. The car
was first produced by Dannenhauer & Stauss in Stuttgart, then by Massholder in
Heidelberg and at last by Robert Schenk in Stuttgart. The total number of
produced cars is said to be around 230 and production was rounded up by the end
of 1958.
A more successful range of passenger cars was put out on the marked from 1959.
This was the Junior/F12 series based on a modern concept from the late 50ies.
This range consist of Junior (basic model) made from 1959 to 1961, Junior de
Luxe (a little enhanced) from 1961 to 1963, F11 (a little larger) and F12
(larger and bigger engine) from 1963 to 1965 and F12 Roadster from 1964 to 1965.
The Junior/F12 series became quite popular, and many cars were produced. An
Assembly plant was licenced in Ireland between I952 to c.I964 and roughly 4,000
DKW vehicles were assembled ranging from saloons, vans, motorbikes to Commercial
Combine Harvesters. This was the only DKW factory outside of Germany in Europe.
All the 3-cylinder two-stroke post-war cars had some sporting potential and
formed the basis for many rally victories in the 1950s and beginning of 1960s.
This made DKW the most winning car brand in the European rally league for
several years during the fifties.
In 1960 DKW developed a V6 engine by combining two three cylinder two-stroke
engines giving a single V6 engine with a capacity of 1000 cc. Over time the
capacity was increased and the final V6 in 1966 had a capacity of 1300 cc. The
1300 cc version developed 83 HP at 5000 rpm using the standard configuation with
two carburettors. A four carburettor version produced 100 HP and a six
carburettor version produced 130 HP. The engine was very light and weighed only
84 kg. The V6 was planned to be used in the Munga and the F102. About 100 V6
engines was built for testing purposes and 13 DKW F102 as well as some Mungas
was fitted with the V6 engine in the 1960s. [1]
The last DKW was the F102 coming into production in 1964 as a replacement for
the somewhat old-looking AU1000. This model was the direct forerunner of the
first post-war Audi, the main difference being that the Audi used a conventional
four-stroke engine. The transition to four-stroke engines marked the end of the
DKW marque for passenger cars.
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