Wartburg (car brand)

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Wartburg was the trade name of 1956 to 10 April 1991 at the VEB automobile work Eisenach made passenger cars -series manufacturer's IFA . The name is derived from the castle of the same name at the Eisenach production site . In 1976 19% of the cars registered in the GDR were of the Wartburg type. Of the more than 1,600,000 vehicles produced in Germany on January 1, 2015 , 7,244 were still registered according to the Federal Motor Transport Authority .

Historical review to 1928

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The "Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach AG" was founded on December 5th, 1896 by a bank consortium led by Heinrich Erhardt with a capital expenditure of 1.25 million gold marks. The purpose of the company should be the assembly line production of military vehicles and bicycles. Daimler / Cannstatt and Benz / Mannheim were soon added as other companies and the series production of “motor vehicles” with building licenses acquired from the French company Decauville was launched. These first models were already called "Wartburg" and sold extremely well, especially as they quickly scored points in the car competitions. The vehicles were even delivered to America under the name “Cosmobile”. After the licenses expired, the company quickly developed a wide range of its own models.

The first "Wartburg Kutschierwagen" appeared in 1899 and had a four-stroke, single-cylinder rear engine with serpentine water cooling. Another model had an air-cooled 4 HP rear engine which, together with its chain drive, was installed open and completely unprotected. The front wheels with a rigid axle and semi-elliptic transverse suspension had no steering wheel, but were steered by means of a hand crank. The construction, which is primitive by today's standards, already won 22 first prizes in 1899, because it already reached a speed of 60 km / h. The further development of the engine and construction was rapid and on August 31, 1902, a two-seater racing car with a water-cooled 22 hp engine won the international automobile race in Frankfurt a. M. at a speed of 120 km / h. This vehicle had a frame made of seamlessly drawn tubular steel. The engine, with all engine parts and leaf springs, lay over the axles, weighed 642 kg, had a five-speed gearbox and a cardan shaft. In 1904 the first "DIXI" appeared, the well-known and successful model of Eisenach automobiles that had been on the market for a long time. The DIXI was built as a touring car, a sporty coupé and a "delivery car" for a payload of 600 kg. The water-cooled 4-cylinder engine reached a speed of 1000 rpm and was equipped with a cardan shaft and a foot brake on the differential. Driven by success, block engines with 16, 24, 26, 32, 40 and 55 hp came onto the market in quick succession. In 1906 the transition from series to gate switching was made. The engine and chassis were now so modern that some of the prototypes ran until 1927.

DIXI - the successful model of Eisenach automobiles

From 1907 4–5 t trucks with chain drive were built and from 1909 the production branch of boat engine construction was expanded. Until 1918 the automobile program comprised 7 people and 5 types of trucks. After the First World War, the construction of cars and bicycles could be resumed. In 1921 the "Gothaer Waggonfabrik" took over the Eisenach factory and from then on all products bore the well-known trademark of the running Centaur with a flying mane.

After the First World War, the success and popularity of the Dixi model series could be built on, driven by numerous amazing motorsport successes. For example, the Dixi won the 6 hp class on the AVUS race track in 1922. In 1923 the Dixi set a highly regarded world record on the AVUS when it drove the 20,000 km in 380 hours and 30 minutes. At the "Reichsfahrt" in 1924, the Dixi relegated its main competitor, the supercharged Mercedes, to second place. The most powerful model at the Eisenach plant was a 60 hp 3.5 liter 6 cylinder engine. In 1927, the Eisenach company from England acquired the license for the Austin-Seven, one of the most popular British cars of its time. On January 1, 1928, the 3/15 PS Dixie with a water-cooled 750ccm four-cylinder engine came onto the market, which was to develop into the most famous example of the Dixi model series.

In 1927 the Dixi-Werke in Eisenach came into the hands of the stock market speculator Jacob Schapiro and on October 1, 1928 it was incorporated into the emerging BMW Group , so that the Dixi now bore the BMW emblem.

Series at a glance

Wartburg
Wartburg automobile logo (Alter Fritz) .jpg

owner Vehicle construction industry association
VEB Automobilwerk Eisenach
Introductory year 1956
Products Automobiles
Markets worldwide

From 1956 to 1988 the Wartburg was powered by a three-cylinder two-stroke engine, which was replaced in mid-October 1988 (Wartburg 1.3) by a four-cylinder four- stroke engine developed by Volkswagen AG .

War castle 311

The Wartburg 311 from 1956 was produced from the EMW 309 (formerly IFA F9 ) further developed the model created in the 1940 DKW F9 of the Auto Union was based. The frame of the car that was forcibly taken over from Zwickau was lengthened by ten centimeters and given a significantly larger, four-door body. The trade name chosen was the name of the first motor vehicle produced by Eisenacher Fahrzeugwerke in 1898 . The designation 311, like the following (313, 312, 353 and prototypes), is in BMW tradition - all BMWs and EMWs manufactured in Eisenach had three-digit numbers, all of which began with a "3"; the F9 was listed in Eisenach as "309". Due to its frame construction, the Wartburg 311 could be manufactured relatively easily in various body designs, see below.

With its elegant, contemporary body, functional design and variety of variants, the Wartburg 311 achieved more international recognition than any other passenger car in the GDR. In the non-socialist economic area it was of great value for the GDR's foreign exchange procurement.

When production started at the end of 1955, the Wartburg 311 with a displacement of 900 cm³ had an output of 28  kW (37 hp) at 4000 rpm. With the engine bored out to 992 cm³ ("Wartburg 1000"), the output was increased from 1962 to 33 kW (45 PS) at 4250 rpm, the maximum speed specified by the factory increased by 10 km / h to 125 km / h, the average fuel consumption was just under 10 l / 100 km. After around ten years, production of the Wartburg 311 ended in 1965.

War castle 312

The chassis of the Wartburg 311, which was based on a pre-war design, was no longer up-to-date in the 1960s. In order to be able to continue production during the conversion to the successor model, a transition model was introduced in 1965 with the Wartburg 312, which uses the classic body on the new chassis. The sedan was replaced in 1966, and in 1967 the production of the two 2-door and 4-door station wagon models ( station wagon and camping ) also ended.

War castle 313

A roadster based on the Wartburg 311 was produced from 1957 to 1960 in just under 500 units. The engine output of the Wartburg 313 could be increased to 37 kW (50 PS) compared to the basic model, with which the car reached a top speed of 140 km / h. From this model, also known as Wartburg Sport , the radiator grille for the base model was adopted in 1959.

War castle 353

The Wartburg 353, introduced on June 1, 1966, followed the Wartburg 311 in its basic concept (2-stroke engine, front-wheel drive, box frame), but received the significantly modernized chassis with 13 "wheels, independent wheel suspension and coil springs all around . What was new at the time was the body, which was entirely in line with international standards, with a trunk volume of over 500 liters. It was not until 1968 that a station wagon with a body from the Halle and Dresden bodyworks was offered again, the name of which was now Wartburg Tourist .

As with the Wartburg 311, innovations were also introduced step by step with the Wartburg 353 during ongoing production. The most striking changes were the transition to the Wartburg 353 W in 1975 (W = further development, with many detail changes) and the facelift in 1985 as a result of the relocation of the radiator in front of the engine, in which the Wartburg received a new front center section without a separate grille with changed headlights.

With the conversion to the Wartburg 1.3, production of the Wartburg 353 ended in 1988 after 22 years and more than 1.2 million vehicles.

Wartburg 355 (prototype)

Wartburg Coupé 355

In 1968 another variant of the Wartburg 353 was worked on. The result was a coupé with a body made of GFP elements ( glass fiber reinforced polyester resin ), of which 5 ... 8 were built. A Renault engine with 1397 cm³ displacement and 54 kW was installed in one. The prototypes had a hatchback and a front engine.

Due to a political decision, the development did not get beyond the prototype stage.

A prototype is in the Dresden Transport Museum (red vehicle), one in the museum in Eisenach (green vehicle) and a yellow vehicle is in an exhibition that is not open to the public. Two other red vehicles are privately owned.

Wartburg 1.3

A four-cylinder four-stroke engine was developed at the Eisenach automobile plant as early as the 1960s and was ready in 1972. With a displacement of 1.6 liters and 82 hp, this engine could have been installed in the Wartburg 353 with relatively minor adjustments instead of the no longer up-to-date three-cylinder two-stroke engine. The changeover and the associated necessary investments were rejected by the government. As a result, however, the foreign currency-generating western sales markets also ceased in the following years.

Günter Mittag , Central Committee Secretary of the SED for economic issues and thus one of the foreign exchange procurers, signed a license agreement with Volkswagen in 1984 for the production of the VW Polo engine EA 111 in the GDR for VW and to meet the needs of the domestic automotive industry. However, this was too big for the engine compartment of the Wartburg 353, which necessitated a complex redesign of the front end and the drive, and thus a considerably larger investment. As a result, there was a lack of funds to create a contemporary exterior.

When series production of the Wartburg 1.3 began in October 1988, there was only a slightly different interior compared to the Wartburg 353, in addition to the new 43 kW (58 hp) engine and a new four-speed gearbox. The basic body was retained and the visual difference to the predecessor was not too great.

The other changes made in the following months could not hide the fact that the body shape was over 20 years old. After the German reunification , the Wartburg was not for sale, so that its production was stopped in April 1991.

Production sites

From 1966 four other companies were included in production in addition to the AWE Eisenach:

export

A significant proportion of the Wartburg production was exported. In 1975 the Wartburg production of 54,050 vehicles was distributed as follows:

  • 34,250 for export, 8,941 for its own population, 7,300 for Genex , 556 for investors, 3,003 for state bodies.

Hungary and Poland were among the largest customers. The Wartburg 311 also sold well in the non-socialist economic area. The main markets were Belgium, Finland, Great Britain and the Netherlands, but Denmark, Greece, Iceland and Spain also achieved significant sales figures. The export of up to 1,215 type 311s to the USA in 1960, for which there were also advertisements in Playboy , became known. These vehicles were offered at a starting price of US $ 1799 (convertible: US $ 2155, camping: US $ 2195) via the dealer Witkin in Los Angeles. In the UK, the Wartburg 353 was sold as the Wartburg Knight.

The company ETS François Pierreux PVBA in Brussels acted as general importer for Belgium and Luxembourg from 1947. In addition to practically all Wartburg models, the Barkas B 1000 van was also sold. In addition to complete vehicles, CKD kits were also imported, and the resulting vehicles were considered to have been manufactured in Belgium. The distribution network in Belgium in 1971 comprised around 80 stations / workshops.

From 1956 Wartburg (initially IFA F9) were introduced to Finland by Oy Rego Ab . Finland subsequently developed into the largest foreign market in terms of numbers. From 1971/2 Vara Haka-Auto Oy in Helsinki took over the import. At times up to 2,000 cars were sold annually. The stock was around 10,000 vehicles in 1969 and increased to around 13,000 by 1979. In the 1980s, however, sales decreased here too. While 1,146 cars were sold in 1981, there were only 402 in 1987. At the same time, the number fell to 7,769 vehicles by the end of 1988. In 1999 there were 732 vehicles in the Finnish register.

From 1957 to 1974, De Binkhorst Auto + Motor Import NV in The Hague imported Wartburg vehicles into the Netherlands. In 1973 the service network there comprised around 100 workshops.

During the 1970s, sales fell in the west. Only a few countries without their own vehicle production, such as Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece and Spain, still imported vehicles in small numbers in the early 1980s.

See also

literature

  • Lars Leonhardt, Michael Schubert: Sporty, fast, beautiful. 50 years of Wartburg sports cars. Verlag Kraftakt, Reichenbach et al. 2007, ISBN 978-3-938426-05-0 .
  • Jürgen Lisse: Vehicle Lexicon Wartburg. Bildverlag Böttger, Witzschdorf 2007, ISBN 978-3-937496-20-7 .
  • Horst Ihling : GDR legend Wartburg. Schneider Text, Giel-Courteilles, France 2010, ISBN 978-3-7688-5796-3 .
  • Test report: Wartburg 1.3 with Queck 325 . Motor vehicle technology 4/1990, pp. 110-113.

Web links

Commons : Wartburg  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Arnold Freiburg: Crime in the GDR: On the phenomenology of deviant behavior in the socialist German state . Springer-Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-322-88220-2 , p. 132 ( google.at [accessed June 28, 2020]).
  2. ↑ Number of passenger cars on January 1, 2015 by manufacturer and trade name. (PDF; 4 MB) Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt, 2015, p. 6 , accessed on April 7, 2016 .
  3. ^ A b Heinrich Augsburger: The checkered history of the BMW brand . In: The car models 1965/66 . 3. Edition. No. 9 . United Motor-Verlage GmbH, Stuttgart 1965, p. 15-18 .
  4. ↑ thehenryford.org
  5. ↑ 309 spare part numbers, for example on gearboxes from the early years of construction of the 311.
  6. ^ Wolfram Nickel: GDR cars like the Trabant and Wartburg were exported to many countries. In: welt.de . November 7, 2014, accessed October 7, 2018 .
  7. ^ Peter Kirchberg: Plastics, sheet metal and planned economy. Nicolai Verlag, Berlin 2000.
  8. ↑ Note in: AutoBild 43/2011, p. 77.
  9. ↑ anniversary. In: Wartburg Signals 5/1971. May 1971, accessed on December 6, 2016 (company journal).
  10. ↑ a b In the field of vision BeNeLux. In: Wartburg Signals 3/1972. March 1973, accessed December 6, 2016 (company journal).
  11. ↑ Laitinen, Timo: Auto 70-luvulla - nousun ja kriisin vuosikymmenellä . Alfamer Oy, Helsinki 2008, ISBN 978-952-472-003-8 , pp. 195-196 .
  12. ↑ Heikki Laurell (ed.): Suomen henkilöautot . Kustannus Oy Autotekniikka, Helsinki 2000, p. 26-42 .
  13. ↑ Wartburg. In: Wartburg Signals 3/1973. June 1973, accessed on December 6, 2016 (works magazine).
  14. ↑ DDR CARS: About the grandmother . In: Der Spiegel . No. 42 , 1984 ( online ).
Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau - passenger cars and vans

Passenger car
EMW 327  • EMW 340  • Sachsenring P 240  • IFA F8  • IFA F9  • AWZ P 70  • Trabant ( P 50 , 600 , 601 , 1.1 ) • Wartburg ( 311 , 312 , 313 , 353 , 1.3 )

Small
van Framo ( V 501 , V 901 ) • Barkas ( V 901/2 , B 1000 )

Other vehicles
DUO  • IFA P2M  • IFA P3  • AWE racing cars  • Melkus ( RS 1000 , PT 73 Spyder , SRG MT 77 )