Road & Track complained that for 1960 the Auto Union’s two-door hardtop was given a “crude ‘American’ touch, a clumsy wrap-around” windshield (Bond, 1959). That made this body style look even more incongruous than previously.
The car’s teardrop shape was rooted in the late-1930s and was reminiscent of the Volkswagen Beetle. Auto Union designers added on a U.S.-style hardtop, replete with a “dog-leg” A-pillar similar to those on mid-50s Detroit cars.
This weird juxtaposition of styles was all the more amusing because by 1960 the almost vertical A-pillar was old hat. In 1957 most U.S. cars had shifted to forward-thrusting A-pillars. And then, in 1960, many cars — including all of the new compacts — reverted to the traditional swept-back A-pillar.
“Auto Union” insignia adorned the fascia, but the U.S. media routinely referred to the car as a DKW. Wikipedia (2023) calls it an Auto Union 1000. This confusion may have been due to an effort by Daimler-Benz, which had recently taken over Auto Union, to rebrand this higher-priced model while continuing to call a junior model a DKW (Motor Sport, 1960).
Auto Union 1000 competed with Volvo in price
The 1000’s basic design was introduced in 1958 and came in a two- and four-door sedan as well as a two-door hardtop and wagon. In mid-1959 the styling was updated and the three-cylinder engine was boosted to almost 1,000 cc.
Although the car was small by U.S. standards, it was a step up from the Beetle in dimensions and appointments. If one views the Volkswagen as the German equivalent of a Chevrolet, this car might be categorized as a Pontiac or Oldsmobile.
The Standard Catalog of Imported Cars lists the point-of-entry price for a base 1000 hardtop as $2,158 in 1960. That hovered between a Chevrolet Corvair 700 coupe at $2,049 and a Monza at $2,238 (Flammang, 1992). As a point of comparison, the Volvo PV544 was priced at $2,330.
Automotive History Online (2020) stated that while the 1000 in high-end S trim was a nice car, it “wasn’t particularly cheap – for the same money a buyer could saddle up with a Chevy Bel Air.” The Standard Catalog of American Cars lists the factory price of a 1960 Chevrolet two-door sedan as $2,262 in strippo Biscayne trim and $2,384 in the slightly upgraded Bel Air series (Gunnell, 1993).
Front-wheel drive matched with a two-stroke engine
The British magazine Motor Sport called the 1000S “a car for worshippers of the unorthodox.” That was because of its three-cylinder, two-stroke engine, front-wheel drive, a free wheel and “individual styling” (1969, p. 350). The S model had 6 b.h.p. more than the hardtop in standard trim.
Here in the U.S., the September 1959 issue of Popular Mechanics described an earlier version of the car as one of the biggest of a half-a-dozen imports tested. Front-wheel drive gave the car “excellent traction on ice and snow” but had a larger turning diameter than a 1959 Ford or Chevrolet (Railton, 1959; p. 99).
In a survey of owners, the Auto Union had the highest rating for safety but dealers ranked fairly low. One respondent wrote, “Not enough dealers across the country for service on long trips” (Railton, 1959; p. 100). This is a curious comment given that Auto Union/DKW cars were distributed in the U.S. through Mercedes-Benz dealers, which in turn had a distribution agreement with Studebaker-Packard (Automotive History Online, 2020).
Surprisingly enough, few owners told Popular Mechanics that they were bothered by the engine’s two-stroke design, which required the addition of oil to the gasoline.
Interior also had some American-style gimmicks
The 1000’s interior had some gimmicky American touches, such as a vertical ribbon-style speedometer and trim enlivened with bright colors. However, the car was relatively roomy for its size and had good visibility.
Martin Buckley of Classic and Sports cars (2022) summed up the 1000 as a “well-built car in that typically German way a Beetle owner would recognize, but is less successful than the Saab [96] in hiding the shortcomings of two-stroke power and was very much yesterday’s car even in 1960.”
In light of the Beetle’s enormous success in the U.S., I wonder whether the 1000 might have been more popular if it had been equipped with a normal four-cycle, four-cylinder engine.
NOTES:
Production data and specifications are from the auto editors of Consumer Guide (2006), Flammang (1992) and Gunnell (2002).
RE:SOURCES
- Auto editors of Consumer Guide; 1993, 2006. Encyclopedia of American Cars. Publications International, Lincolnwood, IL.
- Automotive History Online; 2020. “Auto Union 1000S: First and Last and Always.” Posted July 25.
- Bond, John R.; 1959. “Miscellaneous Ramblings.” Road & Track. Nov. issue: pp.19-21.
- Buckley, Martin; 2022. “Compact quality: Neckar Europa vs Lancia Appia vs Auto Union 1000S vs Saab 96.” Classic & Sports Car. Posted an. 26.
- Flammang, James M.; 1992. Standard Catalog of Imported Cars, 1946-1990. First Ed. Krause Publications, Iola, WI.
- Gunnell, John; 2002. Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1946-1975.Revised Fourth Ed. Krause Publications, Iola, WI.
- Motor Sport; 1960. “The Auto Union 1000S.” May issue: pp. 350-354.
- Railton, Arthur R.; 1959. “Which Import Is Best For You?” Popular Mechanics. Sept. issue: pp. 96-103, 248, 250, 252, 254.
- Wikipedia; 2023. “Auto Union 1000.” Page last edited Dec. 18.
PHOTOGRAPHY:
- 1963 Auto Union 1000S by Berthold Werner via Wikipedia Creative Commons 3.0.
Having operated a shop specializing in the more unusual cars, as well as collecting the unusual, We worked on quite a few DKW cars, and I personally had the following vehicles: 1956 DKW 3=6 2-door, 1958 DKW Munga [4wd “Jeep”], 1959 Auto Union 1000SP coupe [Bauer body], 1960 Auto Union 1000 2-door sedan, and a 1965 DKW Junior F12. All 5 vehicles were sold new in the USA.
With the exception of the Munga, all were very good at road holding and general driving. Much better car overall compared to the VW. Spare parts were never a serious problem except for the 1000SP coupe, as not only do they have a different body & trim, but most of the mechanical stuff was different. Parts in the USA were available from a guy out in Washington state, and after the internet took hold, I had no problem ordering parts out of South America, where the bulk of the parts ended up after the European factory closed. My biggest challenge was finding lower control arm suspension pieces for the 1000SP, as those cars were not built in, or imported into, South America.
The biggest negative was having to figure out oil to gas ratios, especially if only topping off the fuel tank for a trip. I also owned a SAAB 850 Monte Carlo rally car with oil injection, all I had to do was keep the oil tank topped up, no measuring needed.
I was stationed in central Germany in the mid 1970s, and I was in charge of a motor pool. The local joke was that we would always be able to see if East Germany was attacking the west thru the Fulda gap, as there would be a huge blue cloud visible in the area, from the large numbers of attacking East German military versions of the Trabant, and the defending West German military DKW Mungas, all having 2-stroke engines!
A German friend of mine once told me when he was in the West German military, due to the low winter temperatures, each company commander would require that at least one Munga would be kept running overnight in case of a surprise attack, so it could be used to pull-start a 2nd Munga [and so on until they were all running], as the Munga was known for cold starting in winter. He said the East German troops did the same!
My 1959 1000SP garnered comments from Americans, claiming it’s styling was copied from the 1957 Thunderbird. I had to point out that the 1000SP was introduced in late 1957 [as a ’58 model], and the original design date had to go back at least 2 years prior, so the 2 similar car design issue was likely a coincidence.
The 1957 T-Bird was just a major restyle of the original design introduced in the fall of 1954 as 1955 model. Which makes it plausible that the 1000Sp was at leas partially inspired by it. Not a straight copy in any case, though – looks more like an “Americanized” version of a small Italian sports coupe/roadster to me.
Except for maybe the Chicago-area and Minnesota, as well as the left and right coasts, I cannot imagine many U.S. consumers wanted cars with two-stroke engines. The first time I ever saw a Saab 850 around Indianapolis was in the mid-1960s. Mercedes-Benz did not have a dedicated dealership in Indianapolis until 1968, after the demise of Studebaker.
“Surprisingly enough, few owners told Popular Mechanics that they were bothered by the engine’s two-stroke design, which required the addition of oil to the gasoline.”
In Europe, many if not most filling stations sold premixed gas an oil for 2-stroke engines at the time, I wonder if that was the case in the U.S. as well.
As for the Beetle comparison – I believe that a lot of VW’s early success can be attributed to it being among the very first true European style cars on American soil (not sports cars, not super conventional economy cars like Ford Prefect/Anglia, which looked and were built like scaled down U.S. Fords from 1930s) – it was brought to the East Coast in 1949 and basically had the market to itself for a number of years. In theory, any decently made car that was sufficiently “different” could do that – FWD DKW’s included – but they were just too late for the spoils, it seems. A 4-stroke engine could help a lot, of course.
Having been both a resident and a frequent visitor/driver in Europe from the early half of the 1970s and into the late 1990s, I used to see service stations with regular fuel pumps as well as the pre-mix pumps. Towards the end of the 1990s when the pre-mix pumps were removed & replaced with regular pumps, I still used to see small 2-wheel pre-mix oil carts with a chart of how much oil to add to the tank, based on the size of the tank [or type of car].The attendant pumped in the oil, then the fuel, so it would mix. With the advent of self serve pumps and few remaining 2-stoke cars, by about 2000 those oil carts also disappeared.
In my last buying trip to Germany [both former east & west] in 1997, I could have had multiple versions of the pre-mix oil carts for free, but because they were designed to hold flammable liquids, the cost of transport back to the USA was too dear, so I only brought back one of them, a version with the ESSO brand markings. Sold it at Hershey in 2016 for way more than I had thought it was worth!
I’m not sure what 2 stroke cars were available in 1950s-1960s European invasion. The DKW, SAAB maybe? Not enough for the gas station to dedicate a pump.
Kim, while SAAB & DKW were indeed the top 2 producers of 2-stroke cars, there were plenty of smaller production makes that used 2-strokers, especially smaller cars with single and 2 cylinder motors [think Italy!]. And don’t forget the motorcycles and mopeds, in central Europe I would estimate that fully 80% of all 2-wheel motorized machines were 2-stroke.
As late as 1975 I used to go into town [Mannheim & Heidelberg mostly] and on market days, the city centers were filled with the smell of 2-stroke oil. In less developed countries like Spain, Portugal, even Italy, the use of 2-stroke 2-wheel vehicles was common well into the late 1980s.
When I first started making regular trips to England [mostly London area] back in the early 1980s, the buildings were covered in a dark gray soot. Studies showed the soot was from a 2-fold problem, it was made-up of ash from coal burning heating systems and unburned 2-stroke in the exhaust of 2-stroke motors. The stickiness of the unburned oil combined with the coal ash to make everything stick to the porous stone & masonry structures. The government put a ban on coal use in the greater city areas, along with restricting the use/sale of 2-stroke engines. By the mid 1990s most of the big city buildings were visibly cleaner.
I didn’t think of motorcycles. However, for cars, I was speaking strictly of what was available in the US.