RE: trivia question

["Dave Eaton" <Dave.Eaton@clear.net.nz>]

very good john & martin!

actually dkw initially stood for dampf-kraft-wagon" - literally "the
steam-powered locomotive" because the 1st dkw was just that.  the steam car
was partially engineered by a danish engineer who had worked at stanley and
was a complete flop.

after giving up on the original "dkw", rasmussen (the founder/owner of dkw)
started building 2 stroke engines, the first model was a 18cc with 1/4 hp!
so he called this engine "des knaben wunsch" keeping the initials correct,
but which translated as "the boy's desire".  it was a toy.

finally, after the 2-stroke moved from being a toy to the basis of a powered
bicycle motor (1hp) after ww1, he called this dkw, "das kleine wunder" of
"the little wonder".  it was dkw's first commercial success of a powered
vehicle.

this is now the official meaning of dkw.

another piece of trivia of which i was not aware, was that it was rasmussen
who commissioned audi to build the 1st fwd car.  and the "dkw front" was
born in 1931.  some years before the traction avant of andre citroen
(1933?).  dkw promptly went ice racing with it.

so there you go......
dave
'95 rs2
'90 ur-q

> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Heath [mailto:JOHNHEATH@worldnet.att.net]
> Sent: Monday, March 08, 1999 11:15 AM
> To: Dave Eaton; quattro@coimbra.ans.net
> Subject: RE: trivia question
>
>
> Damp-Kraft-Wagen.  They made steam engines, or tried to, in
> 1901.  Could
> also be Das Knaben Wunsch- a youths dream.
>
> John Heath
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:	owner-quattro@coimbra.ans.net
> [mailto:owner-quattro@coimbra.ans.net]
> On Behalf Of Dave Eaton
> Sent:	Sunday, March 07, 1999 3:29 PM
> To:	quattro@coimbra.ans.net
> Subject:	trivia question
>
> what did the initials "dkw" stand for...
>
> originally?
>
> dave
> '95 rs2
> '90 ur-q
>
>
>
>