Auto Union

Auto Union AG, Chemnitz, was an amalgamation of four German automobile manufacturers, founded in 1932 and established in 1936 in Chemnitz, Saxony, during the Great Depression. It is the immediate predecessor of Audi as it is known today.

As well as acting as an umbrella firm for its four constituent brands (Audi, Horch, DKW, Wanderer), Auto Union is widely known for its racing team (Auto Union Rennabteilung, based at Horch works in Zwickau/Saxony). The Silver Arrows of these two German teams (Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union) dominated not only GP car racing from 1934 onwards, but set records that would take decades to beat, such as the fastest speed ever attained on a public road (at 432.7 km/h (268.9mph), unbroken as of 2013). After being reduced to near ruin in the aftermath of World War II, Auto Union was re-founded in Ingolstadt, Bavaria in 1949, ultimately evolving into the modern day Audi company following its takeover by Volkswagen in 1964 and later merger with NSU Motorenwerke in 1969.

Auto Union 1000

The Auto Union 1000 was a compact front-wheel-drive automobile manufactured by Auto Union GmbH between 1958 and 1965. It was the first (and in many markets the last) model branded as an Auto Union by the manufacturer since the 1930s: it replaced the paradoxically named DKW 3=6, although the latter continued in production, reassuringly now branded as the DKW 900, for another year. The two cars were broadly similar, but the new car had its two-stroke engine enlarged to 981 cc yielding a 10% - 37% (according to model) power increase.

The Changes

Apart from the enlarged engine, which now provided in the base model 44 bhp (33 kW), the 1000 featured the old four ring Auto Union badge across the air grill along with the ‘Auto Union’ name above it, in place of the ‘DKW’ badge that had adorned the nose of the earlier model.

Body options

In addition to the two- and four-door saloons, there was a ‘pillarless’ coupé which shared the profile of the saloons apart from the absence of any fixed B pillar. A three-door estate version was also offered, branded as the ‘Universal’, between 1959 and 1962. For the new decade, the saloon was renamed Auto Union 1000S and received, in August 1959, an eye catching wrap around windscreen. Neither the windscreen nor the name changes entirely concealed the fact that at a time when competitor designs employed the modern ponton, three box form, this Auto Union’s body along with most of its technical features descended directly from that of the Zwickau developed DKW F9 prototype of 1938. Fortunately in 1938 the front-wheel-drive DKW design had been an innovative one.