DKW Junior

DKW
DKW Junior (1959–1962)
Junior / Junior de Luxe
Production period:	1959-1963
Class :	Small car
Body versions :	limousine
Engines:	Gasoline engines : 0.75-0.8 liters (25 kW)
Length:	3965-3980 mm
Width:	1580 mm
Height:	1400-1430 mm
Wheelbase :	2175 mm
Empty weight :	715 kg
successor	DKW F11 / F12

DKW Junior, interior

The DKW Junior was a small car of the Auto Union with a water-cooled three-cylinder - two-stroke engine and front wheel drive . It was manufactured in the new plant in Ingolstadt , for which the foundation stone was laid in July 1958. Around 240,000 DKW Junior and Junior de Luxe were sold in the four-year construction period up to 1963.

Junior

At the IAA 1957, DKW showed a prototype with a 660 cm³ two-cylinder engine under the designation DKW 600. Except for the engine, it was similar to the later DKW Junior. In August 1959, series production of the DKW Junior began.

Around 1960, the DKW Junior was one of the few passenger car models with a two-stroke engine that were produced . Its three-cylinder in- line engine with 750 cm³ displacement and 34 PS (25 kW) was installed in front of the front axle. The radiator and the fully synchronized four-speed transmission were behind. The freewheel typical for two-stroke cars was not available on the DKW Junior. The cooling worked according to the thermosiphon principle with a thermostat. Each cylinder was powered by a separate ignition system, so the engine had three breakers and three ignition coils on the alternator located above the cylinders. Very short ignition cables avoid potential differences. The drive shafts of the car had constant velocity joints on the outside of the wheels and cardan joints on the inside of the gearbox .

Compared to other two-stroke cars at the time such as the Wartburg or Trabant , the engine ran very smoothly, with little noise and vibration. This was made possible, among other things, by a well-balanced crankshaft with four bearings, a cylinder block and crankcase made of gray cast iron and a low-noise nylon fan. Another conceivable shortcoming of the two-stroke process was all the more evident in the DKW Junior: the high fuel consumption for a vehicle of this class, which was 8.5 to 11.5 l / 100 km in practical driving.

The body was supported by a box frame . Some parts, such as the fenders, were bolted and therefore easy to replace. The front suspension consisted of double wishbones with adjustable, longitudinally positioned torsion bars and telescopic shock absorbers. At the rear it was a rigid axle (" torsion crank axle ") with a transverse torsion bar spring and telescopic shock absorbers, which was guided on two trailing arms and a sloping Panhard rod . To keep the unsprung masses low, the front brake drums were located on the inside of the gearbox. Ribs or small blades around the so-called turbo drums should improve the cooling. Just like the larger DKW models, the DKW Junior also had rack and pinion steering . The chassis was maintenance-intensive, it had to be greased every 7500 km in 40 places.

With the trapezoidal body of the Junior, Auto Union abandoned the rounded, streamlined shape of the DKW passenger car based on a pre-war design. It had suggested tail fins and side panels that extended in a nearly horizontal line over the headlights. It was only delivered with two doors and offered a relatively large interior space and, not least thanks to the narrow roof pillars, a very good overview. There was also a large trunk in which the spare wheel was on the right and not under the luggage, as in the older models. The tank was under the trunk behind the rear axle. The high air resistance was a disadvantage.

The car's equipment included a steering wheel with a low-lying hub, steering wheel gearshift for the fully synchronized four-speed gearbox, a shock-absorbing dashboard and headlight flasher. The "almost half a square meter" hat rack was also featured in the advertising. A steel sliding roof was available for an extra charge of 260.00 DM; the automatic clutch Saxomat cost an additional 275.00 DM.

Junior de Luxe

DKW Junior de Luxe

DKW Junior de Luxe

Motor Junior de Luxe (1963)

DKW Junior de Luxe

DKW Junior de Luxe

At the IAA 1961, Auto Union presented the revised DKW Junior de Luxe, which differed from the basic model on the outside, in particular with its clearly protruding headlights. On the one hand, it was intended as a successor, on the other hand, as a more luxurious version of the original Junior, including hinged triangular windows in the doors, a bonnet that could be locked from the inside and a chrome trim strip on the sides. The displacement of the engine had been increased to 796 cm³ (bore × stroke = 70.5 × 68 mm), the output remained unchanged at 34 hp. The car, like the Auto Union 1000, also received an automatic fresh oil system , which from then on was available as an extra in the DKW Junior at a price of DM 100.00. The oil no longer had to be mixed into the gasoline in the correct ratio, as is usual with two-stroke engines, but was poured into an oil container and fed to the cylinders depending on the load on the engine. As a result, less oil was burned and the unpleasant smell was reduced.

The Junior de Luxe was built for only two years, in 1963 it was replaced by the F11 / F12 , a further developed model based on Junior.

Technical specifications

Type	Junior	Junior de Luxe
construction time	1959-1962	1961-1963
Superstructures	L2	L2
engine	3 cyl. Row 2-stroke	3 cyl. Row 2-stroke
Bore × stroke	68 mm × 68 mm	70.5 mm × 68 mm
Displacement	741 cc	796 cc
Horsepower)	34	34
Max. Power kW)	25th	25th
at speed (1 / min)	4300	4300
Max. Torque (Nm)	63.8	71.1
at speed (1 / min)	2500	2500
compression	8-8.25: 1	7-7.25: 1
consumption	9 l / 100 km	9.5 l / 100 km
transmission	4-speed with steering wheel gearshift	4-speed with steering wheel gearshift
Top speed	114 km / h	116 km / h
Empty weight	700 kg	710 kg
Perm. total weight	1015-1080 kg	1095 kg
Electrics	6 volts	6 volts
length	3965 mm	3980 mm
width	1575 mm	1575 mm
height	1430 mm	1400 mm
wheelbase	2175 mm	2175 mm
Front / rear track	1180 mm / 1212 mm	1180 mm / 1212 mm
Turning circle	10.7 m	10.7 m
wheel size	5.20–12 ″	5.50–13 ″

• L2 = 2-door sedan

Trivia

In the film The Bridge of Ambreville (1999) with Carole Bouquet , Gérard Depardieu a . a. a cream-colored DKW Junior can be seen as a movie car.

literature

• Werner Oswald: Deutsche Autos 1945–1990 , Volume 4, 1st edition, Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3613021315
• Werner Hartung: DKW Junior de Luxe. In: Brekina Autoheft 2005/2006, pp. 30–35.

Web links

Commons : DKW Junior  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} ADAC: Info, Test & Advice. Accessed October 3, 2013.
2. ↑ Peter Kurz: DKW master class - a car for the whole world . Delius Klasing Verlag, Düsseldorf 2005, ISBN 3-7688-1646-X . P. 109.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Siegfried Rauch: DKW - The story of a global brand . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-87943-759-9 .
4. ↑ The wheel of time . Edited by Audi AG, Delius Klasing, ISBN 3-7688-1011-9 .
5. ↑ Utility car with a 900 cc engine. In: Motor vehicle technology 12/1963, pp. 465–467.
6. ↑ Test DKW Junior. In: Motor vehicle technology 2/1963, pp. 66–71.
7. ↑ Test DKW Junior. In: Motor vehicle technology 2/1963, pp. 66–71.
8. ↑ supplement to the Motor Revue Autumn Edition 1961, No. 39, United Motor publishers, Stuttgart.
9. ↑ Motorrevue. Issue 39, autumn edition 1961, Vereinigte Motorverlage, Stuttgart, p. 36 u. 37.