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    The AUTO UNION-DKW Guide
    The AUTO UNION-DKW Guide
    The AUTO UNION-DKW Guide
    Ebook186 pages1 hour

    The AUTO UNION-DKW Guide

    By Keith Ayling

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    About this ebook

    “Tell me its pedigree and I’ll tell you what kind of car it is!” According to legend, this pungent comment was made by the great Tazio Nuvolari when a manufacturer asked him to drive a new car in the German Grand Prix.
    West Germany’s Auto Union products—the front-wheel-drive DKW 750 and the larger Auto Union S-1000 series—are direct descendants of the famous Auto Union racing cars that Nuvolari was later to drive to victory in the British and German Grand Prix races, and which literally cleaned up on the racing tracks of Europe before World War II ended peaceful competition be¬tween great automobile marques. These were the cars that would do 205 mph, weighed a mere 2,508 pounds, and were constructed with what one writer describes as an “unearthly kind of superior craftsmanship ...” (1961 - Keith Ayling)
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEdizioni Savine
    Release dateJun 17, 2016
    ISBN9788896365984
    The AUTO UNION-DKW Guide

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      Book preview

      The AUTO UNION-DKW Guide - Keith Ayling

      DKW-Elva

      1. Meet Deke

      DKW-750 two-door Sedan

      Tell me its pedigree and I’ll tell you what kind of car it is! According to legend, this pungent comment was made by the great Tazio Nuvolari when a manufacturer asked him to drive a new car in the German Grand Prix.

      West Germany’s Auto Union products—the front-wheel-drive DKW 750 and the larger Auto Union S-1000 series—are direct descendants of the famous Auto Union racing cars that Nuvolari was later to drive to victory in the British and German Grand Prix races, and which literally cleaned up on the racing tracks of Europe before World War II ended peaceful competition between great automobile marques. These were the cars that would do 205 mph, weighed a mere 2,508 pounds, and were constructed with what one writer describes as an unearthly kind of superior craftsmanship.

      Looking at the graceful, compact little DKW 750, it is hard for the layman to accept the fact that the Auto Union designers have succeeded in including the outstanding engineering features of those amazing speed machines into this compact little job; such advantages as front and rear torsion bar suspension, inboard brakes, front wheel drive, and direct rack steering.

      All this in a car which weighs 1,499 pounds, sells for slightly over a dollar per pound, and delivers a genuine 35-36 miles per gallon! It doesn’t seem possible, you may think, until you remember that the DKW 750—or Deke, as it is popularly known —is related to the famous name of Mercedes-Benz, which has long enjoyed a reputation as being one of the finest automobiles in the world, a title it earned by its continually progressive prowess in both international racing and private service.

      You are also aware that the DKW is sold in these United States by Mercedes-Benz Sales, Inc., which means it is backed by the reputation of that famous name. It follows logically, therefore, that the Little Brother of the Benz should really have something to offer—entirely apart from its sleek, ultra-attractive appearance.

      It has plenty to offer in the perimeters of power/weight ratio, speed, safety, stability, and driver comfort. Adverse weather conditions means nothing to it.

      A Revealing Experience

      I make this statement on the basis of first-hand experience—a freak storm which imposed a ferociously gruelling test on the Auto Union-DKW I was driving for the purpose of writing this book. The 17-inch snowfall that swept down on the eastern seaboard early in December 1960 forced me to make a realistic test of the qualities that over 30 years of automotive know-how have consistently built into these cars.

      The big snow started round four o’clock on the afternoon of Sunday, December 11. After a casual glance at the darkening skies, I hardly gave the weather a second thought as I arrived to visit some friends in New Jersey. However, when the 11 p.m. news broadcast reported on the severity of the storm, a closer peek at the weather seemed mandatory.

      The outside scene provided one of those grim climatic jokes that only a North American winter can provide. The temperature, which a few days before had reached a record 58 degrees, had fallen to the neighborhood of 10 degrees. Lashed by an icy wind, the 7-inch snowfall was piling up in drifts against houses and shrubs.

      Deke owners rarely need chains for winter driving.

      You’d better stay the night, suggested my hosts. You’ll never get home in this. Home was on Long Island, 45 miles away.

      Disconcerting news of iced parkways and blocked roads was flowing from the radio. Motorists were being advised to stay off the roads unless driving was absolutely necessary.

      My arrival home that night was an absolute necessity. Contemplating the mound of snow under which the DKW was crouching, I remembered a few things I had read about this remarkable little car and made my decision.

      Controls on DKW-750 are easily accessible. Instruments are shadow-lighted (top). Trunk space is unusually roomy for a small car.

      I Would Give It A Try

      If the Auto Union product was only half as good as its reputation, I could make those 45 miles with ease, if not in comfort. With the casualness of a man who lives and works in over-heated buildings, I had completely neglected to winterize myself; I had no hat, no gloves, no rubbers.

      You’ll need chains, someone said.

      I won’t, I replied. The DKW has front wheel drive.

      He gave me the compassionate look that you reserve for close friends who have occasional attacks of congenital idiocy.

      Don’t worry, volunteered my host. It won’t start in this cold. He’ll never get away.

      My friends were all dyed-in-the-wool domestic car owners, resigned to cold morning starting problems, digging out from snow, and slithering immobility on packing curbside ice. They accepted the fact that cars just don’t operate in weather like this.

      Off We Go

      Motivated by an enduring belief that if a car doesn’t get me home under any prevailing climatic conditions there’s something wrong with it, or with myself, I brushed off the snow from the DKW, accepted a cup of hot coffee for the road, and climbed in. The gang was peering at me through the storm door; the looks were both cynical and sympathetic.

      As I pulled out the choke and pressed the starter, I was remembering that the car and myself were comparative strangers, having driven less than 100 miles together—and those under ideal conditions. But I had found nothing that had displeased me in its handling and general performance, and I was ready for the acid test.

      If I had any concern that the 3-cylinder, 2-cycle engine might be hard to start, the little power unit instantly put my mind at rest. In a matter of seconds, its seven moving parts were in action. The engine seemed to be literally purring with pride, as if grateful for my confidence.

      Heater and Fresh Air Control.

      I depressed the clutch pedal, slipped into first gear, and quickly sliced through the thick white carpet of freezing snow. The large white flakes were falling so fast now that I questioned whether the windshield wipers could cope with them.

      I had been driving for less than five minutes when the windshield began to ice up. The wipers were still providing visibility, but an iced windshield is a major hazard in winter driving, and one that had brought me to a dead stop in several European rallies.

      I was so busy worrying about this that I hardly noticed the astronishing surefootedness of the DKW front-wheel drive. This came vividly into focus when a car crawling through the storm ahead suddenly swung its tail and came to an unscheduled halt with its rear wheels screaming hysterically on the sidewalk.

      This, of course, called for me to make a swift precautionary swing to the left. The action had been almost subconscious. As I went back to the right of the road again, I realized that I had come through that crash-saving swerve without even the suggestion of a slither.

      Being a fanatical devotee of front wheel drive, based on experience dating back to the early 1930’s, the DKW’s steady progress through the thick carpet of snow came as no surprise to me. But the handling was even better than I had expected; the Auto Union designers seemed to have added some other almost evanescent characteristic to what for lack of a better term I am forced to call conventional front wheel drive. The car which is delightfully under-steered was demonstrating an ease of handling which hardly seemed possible under as bad weather conditions as a motorist can expect to encounter.

      The worry department of my mind went back to the icing problem. I decided to stop at a gas station when I hit the Garden State Parkway, and apply one of those spray-on anti-freeze solutions.

      But then, all at once there wasn’t any ice! The DKW’s heater-defrost system had taken care of it. However, I was

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