DKW F1

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
DKW
DKW F1 sedan
DKW F1 sedan
F1 (sedan)
Production period: 1931-1932
Class : Small car
Body versions : Sedan , cabriolet , convertible sedan , roadster
Engines: Otto engine :
0.6 liters
(13 kW)
Length: 3400 mm
Width: 1300 mm
Height: 1375 mm
Wheelbase : 2400 mm
Empty weight : 600 kg
successor DKW F2

The DKW F1 is a small car from the DKW brand that Zschopauer Motorenwerke JS Rasmussen brought onto the market in 1931. The passenger car with a two-cylinder two - stroke engine was one of the first mass-produced passenger cars with front-wheel drive and thus a milestone in the history of the automobile . Like all other "front cars" (protected name) of the DKW brand, which belonged to Auto Union from 1932 , the F1 was built at the Audi factory in Zwickau , while the DKW automobiles with rear-wheel drive were manufactured at the Spandau factory .

history

In October 1930 Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen commissioned the Audi design office in Zwickau to develop a small car that would be powered by a DKW two-stroke motorcycle engine produced by the Zschopauer Motorenwerke. Further specifications were front-wheel drive, independent suspension and a chassis with a particularly low center of gravity. In addition, the car should be popular and cheap.

After a development time of almost six weeks, the designers presented a three-seater roadster that weighed only 450 kg with a full tank and had excellent driving characteristics. The car with a 500 cm³ engine, a subframe made of two steel U-profile longitudinal members as a chassis and an open all-steel body was shown as the DKW type FA 500 in the spring of 1931 at the automobile exhibition in Berlin. In the same year, the DKW Front F1 (type FA 600) with a more powerful 584 cm³ engine and synthetic leather- covered plywood body went into series production. The DKW F1 has independent suspension on transverse leaf springs at the front and rear and was available as a two- and four-seater convertible or convertible sedan. The cheapest version cost around 1750  Reichsmarks .

DKW F1 monoposto
Postage stamp 1982

Technical specifications

DKW F1 (1931/32) Data
Engine: Two-cylinder two- stroke engine ( parallel twin ), installed transversely
Bore × stroke: 68 × 68 mm 74 × 68 mm
Displacement : 494 cc 584 cc
Power: 11 kW (15 PS) 13 kW (18 hp)
Cooling : Thermosiphon cooling (6 liters of coolant)
Transmission: Three-speed transmission (with crutch shift ), front-wheel drive
Chassis : 2 central spars with cross members
Suspension: Independent suspension
on the upper and lower transverse leaf springs at the front and rear
Empty weight (without driver)
* Roadster two-seater: 435 kg
* Roadster three-seater: 450 kg
* Convertible sedan 2 + 2-seater:  515 kg
* Convertible sedan four-seater: 580 kg
* Limousine : 600 kg
Consumption: approx. 8 l / 100 km (mixture)
Tank: 25 l tank in the engine compartment
Top speed: 75-85 km / h

In addition to the roadster, convertible limousine and limousine, the F1 was available in various sports versions, including a monoposto with the then fashionable boat tail. (Top speed of the F1 monoposto at the vintage GP of the 1970s on the home straight of the Nürburgring: 120 km / h)

The further development

The successful DKW series F1 to F8 made Auto Union the second largest automobile manufacturer in the German Empire after Opel . The "Frontwagen" were sold around 218,000 times in Germany and were not only the most successful DKW product, but also the best-selling small cars of their time.

literature

  • Werner Oswald : German Cars, Volume 2, 1920–1945. 1st edition 2001, Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart.
  • State Archives Chemnitz (Ed.): Cars from Saxony are in motion. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2005.
  • Various authors: From 0 to 100. One hundred years of Autoland Saxony. Chemnitzer Verlag, 2001/2003.
  • Siegfried Rauch: DKW - The story of a global brand. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1988.
  • Audi (ed.): The wheel of time. 2000.

Web links

Commons : DKW F1  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files