No subject

- Mr. Horch sold his company to his partners, who put a trademark on the
"Horch" name.  When he went to start up again, this time with a new partner,
he found he couldn't use his last name.  It was his son who came up with the
Latin translated "Audi".
 - The Soviet Union took the section of Germany that contained Zwickau -
where AU car production was centred.  "Auto Union" was struck from the trade
register following the war.  At first, the new Auto Union began in the west
with former AU employees who emigrated from the East, and the primary
function of the company was to service the old pre-war Auto Unions in
Germany.  In the early 50's they resumed the car production in Dusseldorf
(small cars - DKW Junior) and Ingolstadt ("big" cars - Auto Union/DKW
1000S/3=6, 1000SP, 1000S Universal and vans).
- IFA took over the plant in Zwickau and were the ones who produced the
(in)famous Trabbi - using the old DKW 2 cylinder engine design.  The
Wartburg engine was similar to the 3 cylinder, 2 stroke developed by DKW
before the war broke out.
- Mercedes owned Auto Union in the 60's, and sold the cars at some of their
dealerships
- in 1965 VW acquired Auto Union, and scrapped the intended production of a
6 cylinder 2-stroke in favour of a 4 stroke - installed into the body of a
DKW F102 (nicknamed by VW's head as "The Bastard") and named the "Audi".
Interesting stuff in that book - I heard that VW was contemplating reviving
the Horch name - I'm just waiting for VW to come out with a "new DKW" ;-)
Cheers!
Steve Sears
1987 5kTQ
1980 5k
1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes
[SPAM Blocker Note: Remove SHOES to reply]