It's one thing to customize your mass-produced ride for which there are thousands of parts available. It's quite another to breathe life into someone else's insanity, like mating two rare post-war German microcars. Here's the story of the Frankenschmitt.
Don't Forget The 2-Stroke Oil! DKWs For '64
Dampf-Kraft-Wagen! One of the all-time great car-company names was phased out by Auto Union not long after this jaunty ad for the '64 DKW F11, F12, and F12 Roadster came out.
Project Car Hell: Fairlady or DKW?
Last week, we learned that 63% of you prefer eternity with a basket-case American kit car to eternity with a rattletrap French beach car
Dampf Kraft Wagen!
Here's a jazzy ad for the mid-60s DKW F102, the car that evolved into the very first modern Audi (initially, DKW chose the old Audi name for their new four-stroke-powered F102, and the model became the marque soon after; here's an article with more info). It's sad that DKW ditched their old name; we can't help but…
1970 Puma GT
Our commenter friend WhatWouldJesseDo lives just a few blocks from me, so I see his stable of Jalopnik-approved machinery on a regular basis. First we saw his '66 Datsun 411
DKW do Brasil!
From 1957 to 1967, Vemag produced DKW cars in Brazil. In racing trim, they made awesome two-stroke noise, much like contemporary Saabs. Which, of course, makes sense, since the two-cycle Saab motors were based on a DKW design. Big noise, low speeds. Auto Union heritage! We so need one of these. And we'll totally…
It's the DKW F800!
Predecessor to the modern minivan, the DKW F800 was woefully underpowered (20hp! Upgraded through the addition of another cylinder to 32!), featured a flat load-floor due to its front-drive configuration, and was built from 1949 to 1962. We'll take ours mid-engined and RWD'd, thanks. An Audi R8 drivetrain seems as if…
The Audi Munga, You Just Gotta Have One
Long before there was an R8, there was a Munga. Back in the 1950s, Audi (as DKW) created the Mehrzweck Universal Gelandewagen mit Allrad Antrieb (gezundheit), a go-anywhere utility vehicle for Germany's armed forces. Early models had a 40 hp, 900cc engine, though the one in this spoof commercial is likely from the…
