Sachsenring P 240
| Horch / Sachsenring | |
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 Horch P240 Sachsenring
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| P240 | |
| Production period: | 1956-1959 |
| Class : | upper middle class |
| Body versions : | Sedan , station wagon , convertible |
| Engines: |
Otto engine : 2.4 liters (59 kW) |
| Length: | 4736 mm |
| Width: | 1780 mm |
| Height: | 1600 mm |
| Wheelbase : | 2800 mm |
| Empty weight : | 1480 kg |
The Horch P 240 "Sachsenring" was a representative luxury class car with a six-cylinder engine , which was manufactured by VEB Horch motor vehicle and engine works in Zwickau from 1956 to 1959. The vehicle was initially presented as the Horch P 240 and was then called the Horch P 240 "Sachsenring" . After the company changed to VEB Sachsenring motor vehicle and engine works Zwickau in February 1957, the model was called Sachsenring P 240 .
history
On September 13, 1953, the Horch development department received the development order for a new car from the GDR Ministry of Mechanical Engineering. The results already available from the military development topic Kübel P2M and Commander's car P2L , which the FEW Chemnitz had been commissioned to do for the barracked People's Police of the GDR, were used. Engineers in the former Auto Union -Werk Siegmar (formerly Walker ) had already for the six-cylinder petrol engine developed OM6. As a new and in-house development, the Zwickau VEB then brought out the Horch P 240 in 1955. On June 30, 1954, on the occasion of Walter Ulbricht's birthday , a test sample was presented to him. In 1956, the car was also given the name of the nearby Sachsenring race track of the same name and was presented in the same year as the Horch P 240 “Sachsenring” at the Leipzig spring fair. In 1957, due to the trademark dispute, the model name was also transferred to the Horchwerke, which from now on initially operated as VEB Sachsenring motor vehicle and engine works Zwickau .
In addition to the limousine, a few four-door convertibles were also manufactured for representational purposes and, from 1957, at VEB Karosseriewerk Halle, station wagon models were also manufactured. These station wagons in the special colors blue and white were intended exclusively for the German television broadcasting service of the GDR. The P240 was used by authorities and occasionally by high party officials. The vehicle price at that time was around 27,000 GDR marks.
Technically and optically, the Sachsenring corresponded to the taste of the time, at Ulbricht's personal request it should be at least as good as the Mercedes 220 . Twelve million GDR marks were invested in tools and devices . But enormous difficulties in the supply of materials, as well as the non-functioning of the cooperation with the suppliers, meant that this goal was clearly missed. The presentation date of the vehicle for Ulbricht's birthday in 1954, which was set by the Central Committee of the SED, had given the development work an unfavorable twist from the start. The approval for series production was only given in August 1957. Even at this point in time, the vehicle was far from mature and plagued by numerous teething problems. It even happened that the DAMW refused to issue a quality mark for the P 240 . The customers of the cars quickly became aware of the inadequate quality. Among other things, the Stasi complained about the unreliability and numerous defects of the Sachsenring. The annual production of 6000 cars planned in January 1954 for 1956 and 9000 cars for 1957 turned out to be completely unrealistic in view of the massive development problems.
An export ban was imposed and the investments required to expand production capacity were scaled back. Ultimately, the GDR leadership felt compelled to discontinue production of the P240 in order to force the far cheaper import of the Soviet GAZ M-21 Volga and - for the government of the GDR - vehicles of the GAZ-13 Chaika type . In addition, it now seemed more urgent to at least get the Trabant on a successful path, for which capacities were urgently needed. In 1959 production of the P 240 was stopped. The engine of the P240 was installed in the off-road vehicle IFA P3 (or Sachsenring P3) and later, in a revised form, in the parade vehicle Sachsenring P240 representative of the National People's Army of the GDR. Today there are only a few well-preserved specimens left. The total production from 1956 to 1959 was 1382 vehicles, some of which were also exported.
Stages of development
The first development stage of the Horch P240 had the old trademarks above the vertically oriented radiator grille; the crowned H (Horch) and the winged globe. The side, horizontal trim strips were chrome-plated like the radiator grille. The front turn signals were round.
From the second stage of development in 1955/1956, the front and rear side panels were lengthened. The car received flipper-like combination lights at the rear, wide, wraparound indicators and a radiator grille with horizontal lines. In addition to the Horch trademarks, the model name “Sachsenring” was introduced, which was added as chrome lettering on the side.
The third development stage 1957/1958 shows only minor differences to the predecessor. A special feature are curved instead of straight side moldings. Since in February 1957 the Horchwerke was forbidden by the West German Auto-Union GmbH to use the Horch brand symbols, an S symbol in a circle (S for Sachsenring) was now used as an emblem on the hood above the radiator grille. Only from this point in time did the car have the model name Sachsenring P240 .
The P240 exhibited in the ambience of a Leipzig autumn exhibition stand in the August Horch Museum in Zwickau is a combination of the second and third stages of development.
Horch P240 Cabriolet with crown and winged globe (1956)
Sachsenring P240 Cabriolet
Horch P240 "Sachsenring" (sedan 1957)
Sachsenring P240 (sedan 1957)
Sachsenring P240 Cabrio with Gagarin and Tereschkowa (Berlin 1963)
Sachsenring representative
On the occasion of the state celebration “20 Years of the GDR” on October 7, 1969, five four-door convertibles were built under the name Sachsenring P 240 Representative for the NVA , which had commissioned them. This vehicle received a newly designed contemporary body. The chassis was essentially identical to that of the P240. The engine had been slightly further developed and modified. The body was manufactured in the VEB Karosseriewerk Dresden . Four of the vehicles were used at the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the GDR as part of a military parade, and one was used as a replacement vehicle. Later, only two of the vehicles were usually seen at military parades.
Sachsenring representative in the Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr in Dresden
Sachsenring P240 "Representative" at a parade for the 25th anniversary of the GDR
Sachsenring representative in the August Horch Museum in Zwickau
Sachsenring P 240 "Representative" in the Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr in Dresden
Technical specifications
- Six-cylinder in-line four- stroke petrol engine , type OM6-42.5
- Displacement : 2407 cm³
- Bore × stroke : 78 × 84 mm
- Compression ratio : 7.1: 1
- Output: 59 kW (80 PS) at 4000 rpm
- Torque : 167 N m (17 m kp) at 1500 rpm
- Top speed: 140 km / h
- Consumption: 11–13 l / 100 km
- a flat-flow carburetor
- All-steel body on a box profile frame
- Drive: synchronized four-speed gearbox, acting on rear wheels
- Torsion bar suspension front and rear
- Dimensions (L × W × H): 4735 mm × 1780 mm × 1600 mm
- Weight: 1480 kg
body
- Chassis: ladder frame (not self-supporting body )
- Four-door
- Sheet steel
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Sachsenring P 240. In: GDR vehicles. From AWO to Wartburg. garant-Verlag, Renningen 2012, ISBN 978-3-86766-378-6 , p. 62.
- ↑ Werner Lang: We Horch workers are building vehicles again. History of the Horch factory in Zwickau 1945 to 1958. Bergstrasse Verlagsgesellschaft, Aue 2007, ISBN 978-3-9811372-1-7 , p. 101; Quote: "The reason for this was that Auto-Union objected to the use of the name 'Horch' by the Zwickau company".
- ↑ Der Zwickauer: Zwickau sights
- ↑ Current pictures from the subject. In: Automotive Technology. 4/1958, p. 157.
- ↑ P240 combi
- ^ Peter Kirchberg: Plastics, sheet metal and planned economy . Nicolai-Verlag, Berlin 2000, pp. 163-171; ISBN 3-87584-027-5
- ↑ Werner Lang: We Horch workers are building vehicles again. History of the Horch factory in Zwickau 1945 to 1958. Bergstrasse Verlagsgesellschaft, Aue 2007, ISBN 978-3-9811372-1-7 , pp. 85–111.
- ↑ Replica of the Leipzig autumn trade fair stand 1957
literature
- Pure white: The P 240 "Sachsenring" from VEB Sachsenring Zwickau. 2nd Edition. Reinhard Thon Verlag, Schwerin 2001, ISBN 3-928820-81-8 .
- A new 2.4-liter passenger car from Zwickau - Sachsenring type. In: Automotive Technology . 4/1956, pp. 133-136.
- Motor vehicles at the Leipzig spring fair 1956. In: KFT. 3/1956, pp. 83-84.
Web links
- August Horch Museum Zwickau
- Autoreview - Russian side
- Car clock of the VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe
- Series 1 model
- Trabant Club with P240 combination photo
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