DKW
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DKW (Dampf-Kraft-Wagen, English: “steam-powered car”, also Deutsche Kinder-Wagen English: “German kids’ car”. Das-Kleine-Wunder, English: “the little wonder” or Des-Knaben-Wunsch, English: “the boy’s wish”- from when the company built toy two-stroke engines) is a German car and motorcycle marque. DKW was one of the four companies that formed Auto Union in 1932 and is hence an ancestor of the modern day Audi company.[2]
In 1916, Danish engineer Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen founded a factory in Zschopau, Saxony, Germany, to produce steam fittings. That year he attempted to produce a steam-driven car, called the DKW.[3] Although unsuccessful, he made a two-stroke toy engine in 1919, called Des Knaben Wunsch – “the boy’s wish”. He put a slightly modified version of this engine into a motorcycle and called it Das Kleine Wunder[3] – “the little wonder” the initials from this becoming the DKW brand: by the late 1920s, DKW was the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer.
In September 1924, DKW bought Slaby-Beringer [de], saving them from Germany’s hyperinflation economic crisis. Rudolf Slaby became chief-engineer at DKW.[4] In 1932, DKW merged with Audi, Horch and Wanderer to form Auto Union.[3] After World War II, DKW moved to West Germany. The original factory became MZ.[1] Auto Union came under Daimler-Benz ownership in 1957 and was purchased by the Volkswagen Group in 1964. The last German-built DKW car was the F102, which ceased production in 1966. Its successor, the four-stroke F103, was marketed under the Audi brand, another Auto Union marque.
DKW-badged cars continued to be built under license in Brazil and Argentina until 1967 and 1969 respectively. The DKW trademark is currently owned by Auto Union GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Audi AG which also owns the rights to other historical trademarks and intellectual property of the Auto Union combine.
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