GDR Towcar Champion.

[toad a caravan]

My boss had the Wartburg 3 cylinder. I think it the engine was a copy of the DKW 3 cylinder engine. We always knew he was coming due to the amount of smoke coming from the car. On reading the manual I realised that he was putting too much oil into the fuel tank. After that no more smoke. It was quite reliable until the half shaft snapped and no spares.

Dkw did a small 2 stroke ..the blue prints for it were "mirror images" and became the iconic BSA bantam 125cc

 

[Buckman]

Dkw did a small 2 stroke ..the blue prints for it were "mirror images" and became the iconic BSA bantam 125cc

I vaguely remember the BSA Bantam. Around that time there was a motorbike that also had pedals to assist going up hills. I am sure it was British built. There was a French bike called Velosolex that had pedals. Not sure of cc but was about .7bhp?

 

[Buckman]

From the 1950s, Wartburgs were a three cylinder 2 stroke engine with only seven major moving parts (three pistons, three connecting rods and one crankshaft. No wonder they were so reliable? From pictures the radiator seems to be at the back against the bulkhead.

The Wartburg dates back to about 1898. Strangely you also had a BMW Wartburg. I can remember that it had freewheeling like the old DKW and there was no engine braking. I supposed it gave good mpg for that time?

 

[Dustydog]

From the 1950s, Wartburgs were a three cylinder 2 stroke engine with only seven major moving parts (three pistons, three connecting rods and one crankshaft. No wonder they were so reliable? From pictures the radiator seems to be at the back against the bulkhead.

The Wartburg dates back to about 1898. Strangely you also had a BMW Wartburg. I can remember that it had freewheeling like the old DKW and there was no engine braking. I supposed it gave good mpg for that time?

Here’s a photo of one of the last U.K. sold Wartburg’s. Looks like the radiator is in the centre of the engine bay 😄🙉

 

[Steve1962]

I lived in Germany ( Gielenkirchen ) in the late 60's when my dad was in the army, and we had a Ford Taunus P4 same colour as the one in the link below...

1966 Ford Taunus P4 12m restored condition!

1966 Ford Taunus P4 12m restored condition! For Sale Complete restored: Ford Taunus P4 12M Year 03-1966 A lot of pictures fro...

www.carandclassic.com

I remember seeing lots of other small cars, including these

https://flic.kr/p/nmFzb6

View: https://www.flickr.com/photos/geralds_1311/14017543013

DAF 44 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

My friends dad bought one of these............I loved it!!

NSU Ro 80 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[otherclive]

I lived in Germany ( Gielenkirchen ) in the late 60's when my dad was in the army, and we had a Ford Taunus P4 same colour as the one in the link below...

1966 Ford Taunus P4 12m restored condition!

1966 Ford Taunus P4 12m restored condition! For Sale Complete restored: Ford Taunus P4 12M Year 03-1966 A lot of pictures fro...

www.carandclassic.com

I remember seeing lots of other small cars, including these

https://flic.kr/p/nmFzb6

View: https://www.flickr.com/photos/geralds_1311/14017543013

DAF 44 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

My friends dad bought one of these............I loved it!!

NSU Ro 80 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

My design lecturer at Loughborough reckoned her NSU was beautiful and that my Mini was grotesque. Needless to say I disagreed with her. At least with the Mini I knew where the front was.

 

[Buckman]

Here’s a photo of one of the last U.K. sold Wartburg’s. Looks like the radiator is in the centre of the engine bay 😄🙉

The last lot of Wartburgs in the '90's had the Golf engine which may explain the position of the radiator?

The NSU80 had the revolving piston or rotary engine and were extremely fast. One of my work colleagues in Rhodesia had the NSU80 and although I only traveled in it once, I cannot recall much about it except that it was very modern inside in comparison to many other cars at the time

I think Mazda also played around with the rotary engine and again one of my work colleagues in SA had one?

 

[Steve1962]

Here’s a great review of the NSU R80.
I live very close to the roads used in this filming, and the B4437 that runs to Charlbury from the A361 Burford to Chipping Norton is a cracking little driver’s/ bikers run.

View: https://youtu.be/NEcw_fGdMmQ?si=JL6aKuACAeA_5XTi


Steve

 

[Lutz]

From the 1950s, Wartburgs were a three cylinder 2 stroke engine with only seven major moving parts (three pistons, three connecting rods and one crankshaft. No wonder they were so reliable? From pictures the radiator seems to be at the back against the bulkhead.

The Wartburg dates back to about 1898. Strangely you also had a BMW Wartburg. I can remember that it had freewheeling like the old DKW and there was no engine braking. I supposed it gave good mpg for that time?

Dixi (the initial predecessor of the Wartburg) went into receivership in 1928 and were subsequently taken over by BMW. BMW ownership continued until they were expropriated by the Soviets who founded the IFA company in 1945. Thereafter, IFA models were based on DKW designs until Auto Union prosecuted IFA (the owners of the later Wartburg name) for infringement of intellectual property rights, but came to an out-of-court settlement between the two companies following the introduction of the Wartburg 311 in 1956, the replacement of the DKW based IFA F9 and the first model to carry the Wartburg brand name.

 

[Buckman]

Looking at the video clip, it would not look out of place with modern cars of today.

 

[Buckman]

Dixi (the initial predecessor of the Wartburg) went into receivership in 1928 and were subsequently taken over by BMW. BMW ownership continued until they were expropriated by the Soviets who founded the IFA company in 1945. Thereafter, IFA models were based on DKW designs until Auto Union prosecuted IFA (the owners of the later Wartburg name) for infringement of intellectual property rights, but came to an out-of-court settlement between the two companies following the introduction of the Wartburg 311 in 1956, the replacement of the DKW based IFA F9 and the first model to carry the Wartburg brand name.

Not quite correct. Initially the Wartburg was produced by the Fahrzeugfabrik Elsenach in 1898. It was a licenced version of the French Decauville. Dixi only came about in 1903 and the original company FE was taken over in BMW when briefly the name Wartburg reappeared in 1936. The name was then revived in 1956 when production was in East Germany. Interesting history for the car.

 

[RogerL]

Looking at the video clip, it would not look out of place with modern cars of today.

I always thought it was a great shame that the NSU Ro80 wasn't carried on but re-engined - a few were converted by owners to use the Ford V4, probably the only conventionalengine that would fit the space available, but it's uncouth nature didn't suit the car at all.

 

[Buckman]

I always thought it was a great shame that the NSU Ro80 wasn't carried on but re-engined - a few were converted by owners to use the Ford V4, probably the only conventionalengine that would fit the space available, but it's uncouth nature didn't suit the car at all.

Reading up on the Wankel engine I was quite surprised to find that it is still being used today and one of the applications is in an EV to recharge the battery if the battery gets too low. The latter is a very small engine that fits into the boot of the car.

 

[otherclive]

Reading up on the Wankel engine I was quite surprised to find that it is still being used today and one of the applications is in an EV to recharge the battery if the battery gets too low. The latter is a very small engine that fits into the boot of the car.

Yes it’s going into a Mazda small SUV as a range extender. Got a good write up in last weeks weekend review.

 

[toad a caravan]

My boss had the Wartburg 3 cylinder. I think it the engine was a copy of the DKW 3 cylinder engine. We always knew he was coming due to the amount of smoke coming from the car. On reading the manual I realised that he was putting too much oil into the fuel tank. After that no more smoke. It was quite reliable until the half shaft snapped and no spares.

I vaguely remember the BSA Bantam. Around that time there was a motorbike that also had pedals to assist going up hills. I am sure it was British built. There was a French bike called Velosolex that had pedals. Not sure of cc but was about .7bhp?

Overhere Raleigh had various mopeds of 49cc .which was closely related to Motorbecane of France..some models were fitted with variomatic gearing.. also if I remember rightly a 28cc "velocipede" moped was made..driven by a handle bar mounted motor with a roller rubbing on the front tyre...Great..😊Gary

 

[Buckman]

Yes it’s going into a Mazda small SUV as a range extender. Got a good write up in last weeks weekend review.

The engine is also used on seat belts in the Benz. Apparently the NOX emissions on the original engines on it were very low, but the newer, not latest, engines could not comply with EU regs regarding emissions. The Mazda RX2 was a very popular car in SA when they weren't on their roof or wrapped around a tree!

 

[toad a caravan]

Things to keep me busy

Yes it’s going into a Mazda small SUV as a range extender. Got a good write up in last weeks weekend review.

Norton motorcycle bought the rights cured the cylinder problem produced the commander 800cc and won several races at I o M TT races I had a 1971 750 cc commando. (run on Castrol R) for many years now my son has it

 

[otherclive]

The engine is also used on seat belts in the Benz. Apparently the NOX emissions on the original engines on it were very low, but the newer, not latest, engines could not comply with EU regs regarding emissions. The Mazda RX2 was a very popular car in SA when they weren't on their roof or wrapped around a tree!

Used as a pretension device is quite novel. Here’s a write up.

The world's smallest automotive rotary was built to save lives - Hagerty Media

Hidden in the back seat of many 1994–2005 Volkswagens and Audis sits a tiny Wankel rotary engine whose sole duty is to save the life of a person.

www.hagerty.com

 

[toad a caravan]

Used as a pretension device is quite novel. Here’s a write up.

The world's smallest automotive rotary was built to save lives - Hagerty Media

Hidden in the back seat of many 1994–2005 Volkswagens and Audis sits a tiny Wankel rotary engine whose sole duty is to save the life of a person.

www.hagerty.com

May also been used in the past on military drones not quite sure