Apollocar

DKW F1 500
Car : DKW F1 500
Year : 1931
Engine : twin cylinder in line
Bore and stroke :68×68 mm
Cylinder capacity : 490 cc
Gears : 3 forward
Brake horse power : 15
Maximum speed : 50 mph
Wheelbase : 6 ft 10½ ins (2.10 m)
Suspension : front and rear : transverse leaf- springs
DKW is Das Kleine Wunder, which in translation means ‘the little wonder’. The name, which later became a make, was given to a 25 cc engine by Jorgen Skafte Rasmussen, a Dane, who had settled in Zschopau, Saxony. DKW’s production the moved on from small engines to motorcycles and in 1926, to cars with twin-cylinder two stroke engines of about 600 cc and a self-supporting bodywork of wooden panels covered with imitation leather. In 1931 the front-wheel drive F1 entered production. This had a double member frame with brackets to support the bodywork. It had a unit construction engine and gearbox and independent suspension. The basic 2-seater version of this car weighed a mere 900 pounds (450 kg).

Its production figures give an idea of its success: 4,333 cars in 1931-1932, 13,000 a year in 1934 and 1935 , and almost 40,000 cars in 1937. In 1932, DKW, Audi , Horch and Wanderer linked up to form Auto Union which from 1934 until 1937 was especially well known for its powerful racing cars, gaining its victories with rear-engined cars. Auto-Union was absorbed by Mercedes in 1958 and in 1965 it was sold to Volkswagen. DKW suffered the same fate and after having launched a new line of two stroke models the name was dropped in 1966.