AWE racing cars
| EMW / AWE racing cars | |
|---|---|
| Production period: | 1953-1955 |
| Class : | race car |
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The AWE racing cars (until the end of 1955 EMW racing cars ) were a series of racing cars that were constructed between 1953 and 1955 at the Eisenach automobile plant by the EMW / AWE racing collective located there and used in national and international races from 1954 to 1956.
prehistory
At the beginning of 1951, the GDR government commissioned a group of vehicle designers, initially under the direction of Ernst Ring , later under the direction of Arthur Rosenhammer , to set up a racing collective in the DAMW's test and inspection office in Berlin-Johannisthal based on the BMW manufactured in Eisenach 328 to construct a competitive racing car in order to prove the efficiency of the socialist industry in road racing. With the R1 racing car developed from the BMW model, a victory at the AVUS was achieved in 1952 . After the end of the 1952 racing season, the 1953 racing collective was relocated to Eisenach in the Eisenach engine works there and continued as the EMW racing collective, the vehicles taken over from Johannisthal for the 1953 racing season and the four from the Eisenach BMW works based on the BMW from 1950 onwards 328 and its successor BMW 340 built racing cars. The material brought from Johannisthal was worn out and it was foreseeable that the vehicles would no longer be competitive in the new season. The collective, which was heavily staffed after the move, began developing a new 1.5-liter racing car as early as possible. The racing collective contested the 1953 racing season with further developed vehicles that were taken over from Johannisthal. Edgar Barth competed in one of these cars for the EMW racing collective at the 1953 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. It was the only time that a GDR racing team took part in a race for the automobile world championship.
New development from 1954
The racing collective wanted to start the 1954 racing season with completely redesigned, streamlined racing vehicles. A new engine was developed for this, which for the first time was no longer based on the engine of the BMW 328.
engine
The basis of the new racing sports car was the newly developed racing engine, a six-cylinder, four-stroke in-line engine made of light alloy with two overhead camshafts, two valves per cylinder operated by rocker arms and double ignition with two spark plugs per cylinder. The engine made with a displacement of 1498 cubic centimeters 138 hp at 7000 min -1 . The intake ducts were straight and, with three double flat-flow carburettors, ensured optimal mixture preparation of the OZ 90 fuel, which was mandatory at the time . Initially, a crankshaft running in four multi-material plain bearings was used, which was later replaced by a roller-bearing shaft with Hirth teeth . If necessary, an oil cooler could be switched on.
EMW 1500
Construction of the new racing cars began in the winter of 1953/54. In addition to the newly developed engine, the chassis, the front axle with independent suspension, the rear axle based on the De Dion principle , each with torsion bar suspension, were also new designs. The 280 mm drum brakes were adopted from the EMW 340-2, but had improved heat dissipation. The dual-circuit brake system was divided into front and rear axles; the petrol tank integrated in the second driver's seat had a capacity of 90 liters. Because of this tank arrangement, there was only one door. Only the wire-spoke wheels with serrations and quick-release hubs were taken from the predecessor, which were covered by the streamlined cladding on the new cars.
Since the four new vehicles planned were not all ready at the start of the season, the collective started the season on May 16, 1954 in Leipzig with just one new vehicle. Arthur Rosenhammer, as the collective's most experienced driver, was responsible for driving this car. The second car was then ready for the Eifel race on May 23 at the Nürburgring and was driven by Edgar Barth.
After Rosenhammer was able to take first place in the first race in Leipzig, he retired at the Nürburgring with a damaged clutch, Barth achieved tenth place. In August 1954, Rosenhammer and Barth competed again at the Nürburgring, this time for the German Grand Prix, a sports car race in the supporting program for the 1954 European Grand Prix , in which Barth finished sixth and Rosenhammer retired again, this time during training with a gearbox failure. Paul Thiel took a remarkable twelfth place with the vehicle last used last year. On September 19 at the AVUS , Barth and Thiel reached positions four and seven, and Rosenhammer's vehicle caught fire after a break in the fuel line, so that he had to give up. Also in the subsequent races in Dresden and Bernau no victories could be achieved.
On December 3, 1954, Arthur Rosenhammer achieved a world speed record over 10 miles with an average speed of 229.5 km / h with the 1.5-liter racing sports car on the Dessau race track .
EMW R3 / 55
During the winter break of 1954/55, four more vehicles were designed, with specific improvements to the chassis, steering, brakes and body being made based on the experience of the 1954 season.
All four new vehicles were ready for use at the start of the season on May 15, 1955 in Dessau. In addition to Barth, Rosenhammer and Thiel, Egon Binner was signed as a driver. Barth, Rosenhammer and Thiel managed a triple victory over Ernst Lautenschläger in a Porsche .
Edgar Barth and Paul Thiel also achieved a highly regarded result in the 1955 Eifel race at the Nürburgring. Edgar Barth won the sports car class up to 1.5 liters of the ten laps (228.10 km) race in a time of 1: 53: 19.6 hours or with an average of 120.8 km / h ahead of his teammate Thiel and Wolfgang Seidel in a Porsche 550. In practice, Barth drove the fastest lap of sports cars up to 1.5 liters with 10: 39.1 minutes or 128.5 km / h, 16.5 seconds shorter than Richard von Frankenberg's lap record from the Last year on a Porsche 550. In the Leipzig City Park Race, the EMW drivers finished first to fourth, Rosenhammer achieved third place at the AVUS.
At the turn of the season in 1955/56, the EMW racing collective was renamed AWE racing collective, after the Eisenacher Motorenwerke had been operating as the Eisenach automobile factory since 1954. On April 29, 1956, Rosenhammer and Barth took part in their 1955 AWE racing cars in the Paris Grand Prix in the French capital, finishing third and fourth. At the start of the season in the two German states, the vehicles were technically overhauled again, including a five-speed gearshift and engine optimization.
In the ADAC 1000 km race on May 27, 1956 at the Nürburgring, for which 61 cars were registered and 57 competed, the AWE racing collective started with two vehicles. In order to increase reliability and to survive the 44 laps, the team had reduced the engine power; but Paul Thiel / Egon Binner retired on lap 29 with engine failure. The team Edgar Barth / Arthur Rosenhammer with starting number 26, however, finished seventh in the overall standings and finished third in the sports car class up to 1500 cm³ behind the Porsche 550 RS of Wolfgang von Trips / Umberto Maglioli and Richard von Frankenberg / Hans Herrmann, one lap behind. In 8: 05: 54.2 hours, Barth / Rosenhammer covered 43 laps or 980.83 km; this corresponds to an average speed of 121.1 km / h. The winners Moss / Behra / Taruffi / Schell in a Maserati 300S with a 3-liter engine drove an average of 129.8 km / h.
The last meeting with the racing drivers from Porsche took place on September 16, 1956 at the AVUS, at which AWE came third and fourth after Porsche. The racing collective started for the last time on September 23, 1956 in Dessau in a race in which the West German competition did not take part. Barth won ahead of Rosenhammer and Thiel. After the 1956 season, the development of racing vehicles at the Eisenach automobile plant was stopped and the racing collective was dissolved in April 1957. Edgar Barth then moved to Porsche in the Federal Republic of Germany.
Technical data of the EMW R3 / 55
| Parameters | Dates (1954/55) |
|---|---|
| engine | 6-cylinder in-line engine |
| Bore × stroke | 66 × 73 mm |
| Displacement | 1498 cc |
| compression | 9.5: 1 |
| Mixture preparation | three double flat-flow carburetors |
| ignition | Double ignition |
| power | 138 hp (101 kW ) at 7000 min -1 |
| Max. Torque | 142 Nm (14.5 mkp) at 5500 min -1 |
| crankshaft | fourfold stored |
| Engine control | two valves per cylinder, drag lever actuated, double overhead camshaft , driven by spur gears |
| fuel | OZ 90 |
| Tank capacity | 90 liters |
| cooling | Water (about 12 liters) |
| coupling | Double disc clutch |
| transmission | 4-speed manual gearbox, drive via cardan shaft on the rear axle, self-locking differential gear |
| Frame and body | Space frame and aluminum body |
| Suspension in front | Independent suspension on two wishbones of different lengths, lengthwise torsion bar springs acting on the upper wishbones, inclined telescopic shock absorbers between the lower wishbones and frame crossbeam |
| Rear suspension |
De-Dion axle with upper wishbone, suspension via longitudinal torsion bar springs and crank arms, inclined telescopic shock absorbers |
| Brakes | hydraulically actuated two-circuit - duplex brake , acting separately on the front and rear wheels, brake drums with cooling fins, Ø 280 mm |
| wheelbase | 2150 mm |
| track | 1000/1170 mm |
| Dry weight | approx. 500 kg |
| Top speed | approx. 235 km / h |
Location of the vehicles
Of the eight vehicles built between 1953 and 1955, at least five still exist. One of them can be seen in the museum automobile welt eisenach , two received after the dissolution of the racing collective the transport museum Dresden . At least two other vehicles are privately owned.
Trivia
The racing collective and its vehicles formed the background for the DEFA feature film Rivals at the Wheel , shot in 1956 , in which the vehicles can be seen in action. The film is about a fictional racing driver who decides against a career in West Germany to work in the EMW racing collective. The drivers of the collective worked on the film as drivers of the racing cars or extras.
literature
- Horst Ihling: Car racing in the GDR: BMW (East), EMW, Wartburg. 90 years of racing car construction and motorsport in East Germany, 20s to 50s with Dixi and BMW, formula cars of the 50s, races, rallies with EMW, AWE, IFA, Melkus, Wartburg 1949 - 90 . Schneider Text / Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2006, ISBN 978-3-7688-5788-8 / ISBN 2-911870-16-6 (Schneider Text).
- Horst Ihling: Auto racing in the GDR , picture and home, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-86789-410-4 .
- Karl-Heinz Edler, Wolfgang Roediger: The German racing vehicles - technical development of the last 20 years . Fachbuchverlag Leipzig, 1956, pp. 164–169. Online excerpt .
Web links
- AWE on traumautoarchiv.de
- AWE on racingsportscars.com (English)
- Video: engine explanation and chassis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOB7hUUqed4
Individual evidence
- ↑ This vehicle on traumautoarchiv.de , accessed on April 26, 2014
- ↑ Horst Ihling : Auto racing in the GDR: 90 years of racing cars and motor sports, Delius Klasing Verlag, Bielefeld, October 2006, ISBN 978-3-7688-5788-8 , page 96 et seq.
- ↑ Motorsport archive ( Memento of the original from April 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed April 13, 2014
- ↑ Horst Ihling : Auto racing in the GDR: 90 years of racing car construction and motorsport, Delius Klasing Verlag, October 2006, ISBN 978-3-7688-5788-8 , page 112 ff.
- ↑ a b Horst Ihling : Auto racing in the GDR: 90 years of racing cars and motor sports, Delius-Verlag, Klasing, October 2006, ISBN 978-3-7688-5788-8 , page 117ff.
- ↑ Arthur Rosenhammer set a world record on EMW. In: Automotive Technology. 2/1955, p. 61.
- ↑ Horst Ihling : Auto racing in the GDR: 90 years of racing cars and motor sports, Delius-Verlag, Klasing, October 2006, ISBN 978-3-7688-5788-8 , page 125ff.
- ↑ Michael Behrndt, Jörg-Thomas Födisch, Matthias Behrndt: ADAC Eifelrennen . Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2009, ISBN 978-3-86852-070-5 .
- ^ Richard von Frankenberg: Eifelrennen - viewed critically . In: das Auto, Motor und Sport , issue 12/1955, Vereinigte Motor Verlage, p. 21.
- ↑ Horst Ihling : Auto racing in the GDR: 90 years of racing cars and motor sports, publisher Delius Klasing, October 2006, ISBN 978-3-7688-5788-8 , page 131 ff.
- ↑ Michael Behrndt, Jörg Thomas Födisch, Matthias Behrndt: ADAC 1000 km race . Heel Verlag, Königswinter 2008, ISBN 978-3-89880-903-0 , p. 17 and 194.
- ↑ Horst Ihling : Auto racing in the GDR: 90 years of racing cars and motor sports, publisher Delius Klasing, October 2006, ISBN 978-3-7688-5788-8 , page 145th
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