Sunday, June 12, 2011

The Dkw F1. The 1st mass produced Two stroke car with front wheel drive.

This is the car that put Dkw on the map as a car manufacturer and was the start of their Front
wheel drive cars that continued until 1966. It was the first mass produced, Front wheel drive
car with its engine mounted transversely.
'F' stands for Front and the F1 would be quickly followed by similar but improved versions up
to F8 and the onset of WWII in 1939.
Car makers 'Ruxton, Alvis and Cord' all made their version of a front wheel drive car in 1928
(Alvis) and 1929 (Ruxton and Cord) but they were all expensive failures.

1931 Dkw F1


This car was built for the harsh economic climate that existed in Germany and pretty much
worldwide in the 30's, and at the time was the cheapest car you could buy in Germany at
approximately 1750 Reichsmarks.
The car was built at the Dkw main factory in Zschopau in East Germany, except for the
bodywork which was made at their Berlin- Spandau plant.
Not surprisingly the F1 sold exceptionally well, as did all the 'F' cars that followed.
By 1939, over a quarter of a million front wheel drive Dkw's had been built, which was
impressive numbers for those times.  Over  100,000 were built in 1939 alone as cars
became more increasingly more affordable.

Dkw F1


The car was a two seater roadster and firstly powered by a 500cc( 490), two stroke engine
that gave 15 hp.
. The body of this car and all of the early 'F' range of cars was made out of plywood,
 which was covered with imitation leather.
The car used a very simple wooden ladder frame chassis.

 Later the engine size increased to 600cc (594) and still comprised of
2 cylinders. The first 600cc powered car put out 18 hp at 3800 rpm and it is this engine
that the Trabant would later be based upon for decades thereafter.
The F1 had a 3 speed gear box and like all Dkw's was water-cooled.

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