DKW

DKW is a bike marque and defunct German automobile.

In 1916, a factory was founded by Danish engineer Joergen Skafte Rasmussen in Zschopau, Saxony, Germany, to create steam fittings. In the same year, he tried to create a automobile, called the DKW. He also place a somewhat altered version of this engine into a bike and called it Das Kleine Wunder - "the little marvel".

In 1932, DKW merged with Horch, Audi and Wanderer, to form the Auto Union. Auto Union came under DaimlerBenz possession in 1957, and was afterward bought by the VW in 1964. The last German built DKW automobile was the F102 which stopped production in 1966.

DKW badged cars continued to be constructed under licence in Argentina and Brazil until, respectively, 1967 and 1969.

DKWs consistently used twostroke engines, reflecting the firm's standing from the end of the 20's as the world's biggest maker of bikes. The first DKW passenger car, the tiny and fairly primitive Typ P appeared on 7 May 1928, and also the design continued to be assembled in the firm's Spandau plant first for a roadster and after as a fashionable of basic sports-car until 1931.

These vehicles, bearing version names F1 through F8 were assembled between 1931 and 1942. They were the first volume production vehicles in Europe to comprise front-wheel drive, and were driven by transversely mounted twocylinder two-stroke engines. Displacement was 584cc or 692 cc: maintained maximum power was initially from, and 15 PS 1931 an option between 18 or 20-hp. These designs also featured an initiation using a generator that doubled up as a starter, that was mounted directly in the crankshaft. This is called a Dynastart. The little front-wheel drive DKWs from Zwickau notched up about 218,000 units made between 1931 and 1942.

Between 1940 and 1929 DKW also created a less-well remembered but technically intriguing chain of rearwheel drive automobiles called Sonderklasse and Schwebeklasse with twostroke V4 engines. Engine displacement was 1000 cc, after 1,100 cc. These engines had two additional cylinders for forced-induction, so that they actually appeared like V6 engines only without spark plugs in the front cylinder pair.

In 1939, a prototype was made by them using the first threecylinder motor. Using a streamlined body, the vehicle could operate at 115 km/h.

As a model for your Saab twostroke used in their new Saab 92 car manufacturing enterprise, in 1947 dKW engines were used by Saab.