Auto Union DKW Owners

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and today.... a blast from the past;

DKW 3=6 F94, Spring Invitation Trials (near Waiuku) - 1973   (This car is still alive and well and living in West Auckland, last I heard) (photograph courtesy Ross Cammick)



Brian Rule from Hamilton rallying his 1965 DKW F102 in the early 1970's (photograph courtesy Brian Rule);

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Took my '57 DKW F93 3=6 out for a drive yesterday afternoon- newly minted rego and warrant!

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And another Kiwi Deek for you all - the 1000S Coupe in the World of Wearable Art in Nelson;

[brian]

Looking at these pics reminds me why I liked them so much when they were new

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Last of the Deeks - the RHD F102's sold 2nd best in New Zealand IN THE WORLD (1st was the UK) - I have included a good few factory advertisements and then two of the few existing F102's that survive in NZ.  Although they did not sell well worldwide due (in part) to a period bias against two strokes and Auto Union's own problems (sending them into the arms of Volkswagen in 1965) - it was an excellent car in reality, and those that owned them were very fond of them.  Of course - the addition of the Mercedes designed four stroke engine to this car created the Auto Union F103, which then very shortly after became the Audi F103 (the Audi 80) and the rest as they say...is history.




This nice example in the Toy Museum at Wanaka


This example previously owned by Brian Rule of Hamilton, now with John Farmer in Whitianga

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A sad sight - two Auto Union 1000S four doors abandoned near Balclutha

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For those of you unfamiliar with the lineage of Auto Union - here is the "Readers Digest" version;

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Darling of Auto Union's advertising campaign in the '50's was German actress Romy Schneider;

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And then there was the other famous star (who actually owned and drove a 1957 DKW 3=6 Coupe herself), 50's sex kitten, Anita Ekberg, star of "La Dolce Vita";

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One of the big things about DKW's is that a lot of people that don't know them underestimate them somewhat - they can be very quick!  Here is a photo from a few years back, taken by a friend of mine in his 1958 1000 Coupe (well, he was driving, so the fellow behind him took the photo) winding the Deek up to 110 mph - that's 177 km/h folks!  I've done it myself in my own Deek (some years back)- it is possible - but not good for the crank and the very direct steering that the Deek has becomes light and sensitive at that speed.

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Right then, back to Kiwi Deeks - here the 1960 Auto Union 1000S four door previously owned by Graham Wiblin in Blenheim (he brought it from Dargaville) and sold it recently to a gent in Mapua. Graham still has a few of these 1000S four doors at his place  Apologies for the Trademe pics - they are the best ones I have of this car;

[brian]

They appear to have stood the test of time better than some of their contemporaries but is it a horror story on looking closer?

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Here is another rusty one - admittedly not a Kiwi Deek any longer, but an ex-Kiwi Deek, having been exported from New Zealand to Australia, and currently residing in a field in NSW......



The DKW Junior was refined little car (in its manners) - with some advanced features for its day (like its big brother the F12), like inboard brakes - and some are still raced to this day;

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Another Kiwi Deek - this 1961 Auto Union 1000S four door lives at Manapouri/ Te Anau;

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Kenya 1959-


A 1956 DKW 3=6 F93 stops for fuel at "Sultan Hamud petrol station", 1959,  Nairobi- Mombasa road, Kenya . The road surface was called "murram".  Meeting an oncoming car usually threw up a blinding fog of red dust! Incidentally this car has been spotted in Kileleshwa, Nairobi recently;

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A series of DKW models (such as the 3=6) received the "Sonderklasse" moniker - "Sonderklasse" being one of those German words that does not translate entirely into English (much like the word "Gemütlichkeit") - the nearest equivalent being "Special Class" which would infer something above average or "special".  This was integral to DKW's marketing philosophy which (true in the '50's especially in this case)was to show that the DKW did not compete with the Beetle, and was a car in a higher market segment - that is being a small car, but more luxurious and very much faster.

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Another Kiwi Deek - this attractive New Zealand new 1960 Auto Union 1000S four door was recently sold in Wellington - it is in my personal all time favourite colour combo for these - the ivory-white is called "Elfenbein" and the orange is called "Coraline";

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Here is an interesting article for those interested from 1957 - originating from Australia, it shows the period impressions of the postwar Deeks very well (click on the images for bigger, readable versions of the images);

[rambo_005]

Loving this thread!

I'm a little confused about the name/s of this model though, is it 3=6, F93, 1000S or all of these? Cheers

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Oh yes.. there are a plethora of post-war models - we'll discuss each briefly;

There was the immediate postwar F89 series - of which the name "Meisterklasse" is associated (which was a very close copy of the Pre-war F9, with the pre-war 2 cylinder underpinnings) - none of these are in Australia or New Zealand, so I won't deal too much with them


Let's start with the F91 series, which began production in 1953 and finished up in 1955 - these were the first production 3 cylinder DKW's and the first to carry the 3=6 name (there is one F91 in New Zealand and one in Australia both of them type 6603) - in the latter part of the illustration below you will see the F93, we'll talk more about that in the next post;