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Automobiles made before WWII
DKW cars were made from 1928 until 1966. They always used two-stroke engines
and, from 1931, the company was a pioneer in front-wheel drive and transverse
mounting. The most well-known cars made before World War II, bearing model names
F1 through F8 (F for Front), had front-wheel drive and a transversely mounted
two-cylinder engine. Displacement was 600 or 700 cc, power was 18 to 20 hp.
These models also featured an innovation with a generator that doubled up as a
self-starter, which was mounted directly on the crankshaft. This was known as a
Dynastart.
They also produced a less well-known series of rear-wheel drive cars called
Schwebeklasse and Sonderklasse with V4 two-stroke engines. Displacement of this
engine was 1000 cc, later 1100 cc. These engines had two extra cylinders for
forced induction, so they really appeared like V6es but without sparkplugs on
the front cylinder pair.
In 1939, they made a prototype with the first three-cylinder engine. The engine
had a displacement of 900 cc and produced 30 hp. With a streamlined body, the
car could run at 115 km/h (72 mph). This prototype was to be put into production
only after the war, first as an IFA F9 (later to become Wartburg) in Zschopau,
East Germany, and shortly afterwards in DKW-form from Düsseldorf as the 3=6 or
F91.
DKW engines were used by Saab, as a model for their two-stroke engines in their
new automobile manufacturing venture, in 1947.
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