Dkw

[2strokebloke]

Can it be said that the DKW is the father of all modern front wheel drive cars?


DKW's first front wheel drive cars used a transverse mounted engine (For the thousandth time the Mini was not the first!) of the 2 cylinder 2-stroke type.
Amazingly after the war, alot of manufacturers copied the DKW! It is well known that the first SAAB, the model 92 was inspired by and closely followed the mechanical layout of prewar DKW cars.
In Japan, Suzuki made the Suzulight, and Honda made the N360, perhaps the smallest of the DKW layout vehicles (except that honda used a 4-stroke 2 cylinder engine)
And when DKW made a switch to three cylinders, so did SAAB, and Suzuki introduced the Fronte 800.
In the mid 60's, VW bought a majority share in DKW, and changed the name to Audi (one of the prewar members of the Auto-Union)
If it hadn't been for DKW's expertise in the front wheel drive area, VW just might not exist today! (Although NSU also helped keep them alive)
I just think that DKW isn't given enough credit by most people, (and even worse some people have never heard of this company)
Sorry, ranting again...

[tigermiata]

Cool.

OTOH, the 1000 SP coupe and roadster have IMHO somewhat more appeal.

[2strokebloke]

I think the 1000SP looks sort of like a first generation thunderbird (before they became ugly and dumb)
But personally, the 3=6 is 1950s German styling at it's best!

The 3=6 name was chosen to remind customers, that a 3 cylinder 2-stroke is like a 6 cylinder 4-stroke.