The W 25 K sports car not only looked beautiful, it also impressed with its extraordinary performance data. The six-cylinder engine designed by Ferdinand Porsche achieved 85 hp thanks to its supercharger, more than twice the output of the W 40, also presented in 1936, with the same engine, but without a supercharger. The modern, American-influenced design was derived from the Wanderer W 51, also presented in 1936.

The Wanderer brand name, which is now part of Audi, was first seen in 1911 on road cars for the 1912 model year. The company dates back to 1896 and they built cars until 1941 and military vehicles until the end of the war. But it became part of Auto Union in 1932. As Audi is the only surviving member of Auto Union, this marque sort of lies dormant somewhere in Audi’s basement.

Wanderer wanted be a competitor to BMW’s successful 328 so they contracted with Porsche to design a beastly engine. And that’s just what he did. The 2.0-liter straight-six was supercharged in W25 K form and put out 85 horsepower. The top speed was 90 MPH.

Only offered for three years (1936 through 1938), the W25 K was sold in low numbers – only 258 were built, the final 37 of which were sold as “W25” – without the supercharger. It’s a very stylish car and one that doesn’t come up often. It’s every bit as sporty as a BMW 328 and a lot less common. 

The German automobile company "Horch" was founded at the beginning of the 20th century in Zwickau (Saxony). In the twenties and thirties, Horch succeeded in capturing large market shares in the luxury upper-end segment of the automotive market. Along with this, the "Horch" brand gained worldwide recognition through its high-end cars.

In 1933, the luxury sedan "Horch 830" appeared on the market, which immediately achieved high sales figures. By the end of the thirties developed at Horch new variants of the 830th The produced from 1935 "830 B" had a stronger engine, in parallel appeared the "830 BL" with an extended body. The "830 BL" was in the late thirties with two engines. Originally an engine with 3.5 liters of displacement and a maximum power of 82 hp was installed, later a 92-hp 3.8-liter engine should power the over two-ton limousine.

Like many other companies Horch supplied motor vehicles for the upgrade of the Wehrmacht. Since 1933, the National Socialist rulers have massively upgraded. When the German Reich finally started the Second World War in 1939, several military and civilian "Horch" cars were present. The civilian variants were mostly driven by high-ranking public officials.

An example of this is "Horch 830 BL Charles de Gaulle" (IL119). He belonged to the motor pool of the German city commander of Paris, General Dietrich von Choltitz. Among the opponents of Germany, the "Horchs" coveted loot and were often used for their own purposes. When Choltitz surrendered Paris to the Allies in August 1944 and went into captivity, the "Horch 830 BL" became the property of the victorious Frenchmen.

The next user was none other than the French general and first French post-war government chief Charles de Gaulle. In 1946 de Gaulle left French politics. But he used his Horch especially on festive occasions. When the French postwar republic, not least because of the Algerian War (1954 - 1962), entered a serious political crisis, de Gaulle applied for the office of President. For his election campaign tours through France, the Horch was used intensively.

When de Gaulle was elected President in 1959, he was aware that a change in Franco-German relations was necessary, which ended the eternal rivalry between the two countries. For this reason, German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle, French President, signed the "Elysée Treaty" in 1963, agreeing to work together on many important policy areas, such as defense, culture and the economy in the future. This policy is still the basis of German-French relations today. The German coach De Gaulles is a unique legacy from the era of this new policy.

Imperator - the first Audi eight-cylinder

Audi, then based in Zwickau, Saxony, built exquisite, high-quality automobiles from 1910 to 1940, building about 10,700 vehicles in that time. After a break of 25 years, Audi was revived in Ingolstadt in 1965. How did it get on?

On 19 June 1909, August Horch, who established the A. Horch & Cie. Motorenwagenwerke Aktiengesellschaft automobile factory in Zwickau/Saxony, left his company due to immense pressure from the Supervisory Board. With an initial DM200,000 of borrowed capital, he bought a former woodworking factory and in July 1909 and founded a new company, August Horch Automobilwerke GmbH. The Reichsgerich court decreed that August Horch was not permitted to give the new company his own name, as the right to use the name remained with the A. Horch & Cie. Motorenwagenwerke Aktiengesellschaft. He was compensated with  DM20,000 for the loss. A new company name had to be found. After some reflection, he came up with the Latin imperative 'Audi'. In the German language, this means Horch (which is a synonym for listening). Thus, the brand name Audi was born'.

In 1927, the first Audi eight-cylinder came onto the market: the Audi Type R 19/100 hp. Two spare wheels were standard for the 100hp Audis; however, only 145 were sold. At the launch people still spoke of "the majesty of strong cars". A short time later, the Audi Type R was confidently named 'Imperator' (Emperor, which was one of the most expensive automobiles of its time. On occasion, buyers paid more for an Audi than for a Horch. As was normal at the time, Audi handed over the chassis to various coachbuilders.

After economic difficulties, Audi GmbH was taken over by the Zschopauer Motorenwerke in 1928, which was owned by J. S. Rasmussen AG. The Zschopauer Motorenwerke was chiefly known for its DKW (Dampf Kraft Wagen) brand, which was the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world at the time.

Shortly after the acquisition of Audi in 1928, Jörgen Skafte Rasmussen allowed his elegant two-door convertible Audi Type Imperator to be converted by the Berlin coachbuilder Josef Neuss. Rasmussen's cabriolet was presented at the 21st International Motor Show in Berlin in November 1928 by Neuss, painted white, with the aim of boosting the sluggish sales of the Audi Type R. After the fair, the luxury cabriolet was painted black and handed back to Rasmussen in early 192, to use as his personal car.

The only remaining Audi Type R dates back to 1929 and can now be admired in the Audi Museum in Ingolstadt (Germany).

Woodies (wood-bodied station wagons) can be a luxury cars!

Driving a car used to be a luxury reserved for the relatively small upper class. The Horch brand represented luxury cars of the highest calibre, but then the Horch Woody (station wagon) came along – just a bit different! In 1938, 382,000 cars were produced in Germany (today 6 million) and about 1.3 million were registered ( now 45 million). In 1938 the cost of a Horch was 10,000-14,000 Reichsmark (one Reichsmark is equivalent to 3.70€). For the same money you could buy a luxury home!  The average wage at the time was 165 RM a month. These figures help to illustrate the value of the Horch 830BL Woody at the time.

The Horch 830 is a passenger car with an eight-cylinder V-engine and rear-wheel drive. The brand belonged to Auto Union, who launched it as a successor to the Type 430 at the 23rd International Motorcar and Motorcycle Exhibition in Berlin, February 1933. It was an improvement over the 830B (1935-40);  the 830BK led to the 830BL with 3.8 litres capacity and 92HP. The relatively small Horch was clearly superior to the Mercedes 320, and the V8 series became the most successful Horch model with a total of 9,571 cars produced.

At the time, the Wanderer Type W23 (known as the farmer's car) was declared  the first German/European 'Woody'. This model was for export to countries in southern Europe with the prototype completed in 1941. During the war, however, development stopped. Based on what we know today, the 1938 Horch 830BL seems to have been the first German/European station wagon. The Horch was bodied by F.M. Tarbuk (Vienna). We do not know if there is any other model of a pre WWII German Woody. It appears that our 1938 Autopioneer model Horch 830BL is the only one in Germany!

F.M. Tarbuk & Co., later Tarbuk Cars & Cie., was an Austrian vehicle trading and body shop company, founded in 1920 in Vienna by Fritz Tarbuk. In 1928 Tarbuk took over the general agency for Horch in Zwickau. By the end of the 1980s, the company  had expanded considerably, employed 1,000 people and was one of the 60 highest-revenue companies in Austria. In 1992, the group was renamed Tarbuk AG but in 2007, the company folded. More than 80 car brands were marketed by Tarbuk over 87 years; the company had relocated x times and even the turmoil of World War II did not cause it any harm. According to its long-term attorney Walter Priglhuber, "The death knell of the company was the disagreement of the owners".

Today, the restored Horch 830BL Woody is displayed in the EFA Automobile Museum in Amerang.

Fahrzeugspuren in Chemnitz. Zur Historie des Fahrzeugbaues. Teil 1

Frieder Bach folgt seit Jahren den Spuren des Chemnitzer Fahrzeugbaues, angefangen von Fahrrädern über Motorräder bis hin zu Automobilen. Dabei geht er bis ins 19. Jahrhundert zurück. Wegmarken sind Namen wie Tuchscherer, Presto, Schüttoff, Diamant, Wanderer, Auto Union, Barkas, Moll-Fahrzeuge, ESWECO, Pöge, Häckel, Riemann, Balaco, VEB Fahrzeugelektrik, Marklin, ALNO, Rasmussens Bootsmotoren, Motap, Oscar Winter, Braunsdorfer Maschinenfabrik, Motorenhaus Köhler; Hofmann & Kühn, Oswald Preußer, Alfred Niebl, Deutsche Dynamo-Werke, Hubert Hottek, Seyfert & Butscher, Heinrich Illgen, Stoßdämpfer Hofmann, Fa. Wachsmut, Fa. Schaumberger & Hempel, Fa. R. Neubert, Fa. B. Gerstenberger, Fa. Dietrich & Hannak, DKW-Simson, Erich Reif, Fa. Endig, Fa. Fa. Thranitz, Hans Franke, „Gustl« Sieper, »RIKS«, »Ehrlich«, Fa. Münch, Fa. Bräunig, »Elan«.

Frieder Bach lässt vor dem Leser die Atmosphäre einer Zeit entstehen, in der Enthusiasten mit handwerklicher Tradition eine völlig neue Fahrzeugtechnik entwickelten. Bach verschweigt nicht, dass technologische Kreativität in den kleinen Firmen mitunter eine spartanische Lebensführung bedingte. Aber das Netzwerk kleiner Familienbetrieb war es, welches  Tradition und Erneuerung im Raum Chemnitz zu verbinden vermochte.

Das im Mironde Buchversand erschienene 216-seitige Buch ist reich bebildert und enthält auch erstmals veröffentlichte Aufnahmen.

Fahrzeugspuren in Chemnitz. Teil 2. Fahrzeugschicksale Teil 2

Heute wird die Lebenszeit eines Neufahrzeuges schon bei seiner Projektierung festgelegt. Nach einer vorausgeplanten Nutzung endet das Auto in der Schrottpresse. 

Grundsätzlich galt der PKW-Besitz in den 1920/30er Jahren noch als besonderer Luxus. Zudem wurde in den Jahren nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg die Nutzungszeit von PKW und Motorrädern über alle Maßen verlängert, indem sie trotz eines unfallbedingten »Totalschadens« oder des Erreichens der altersbedingten Verschleißgrenze generalüberholt oder mit Fremdteilen neu aufgebaut wurden. 

In der unmittelbaren Nachkriegszeit betraf dies in erster Linie Klein-LKW und Lieferwagen. Als dann jüngere Serienfahrzeuge wieder den Bestand aufbesserten, wurden auch die »Selbstgeschraubten« verschrottet. Nur sehr wenige blieben als Zeitzeugen erhalten und beleben die heutige Oldtimerszene. Diese Fahrzeuge passten viele Jahre nicht in´s Bild des »möglichst originalgetreu restaurierten Oldtimers«. Das Umdenken kam für viele der nicht originalen, aber oft originellen Fahrzeuge zu spät. Da sie aber eine bedeutende Rolle im Nachkriegsaufbau unseres Landes gespielt haben, sollen sie mit diesem zweiten Teil der Chemnitzer Fahrzeugspuren endlich ins Scheinwerferlicht unserer Aufmerksamkeit »gefahren« werden. Der Autor will dem Publikum 2018 einen dritten Teil der Chemnitzer Fahrzeugspuren vorlegen, der dem Rennsport gewidmet sein soll.

Das im Mironde Buchversand erschienene 216-seitige Buch ist reich bebildert und enthält auch erstmals veröffentlichte Aufnahmen.

Auto Union Rekordwagen 1938  Class B Record Attempt 

Fatal Crash: January 28th 1938

Driver Bernd Rosemeyer

Professionally built model from GB 3 kit

Material: Resin

A somewhat unusual German symphony: Porsche - Wanderer - Reutter
 
At the end of 1930, Dr.-Ing. h.c. Ferdinand Porsche has his own design office in Stuttgart. This was entered in the commercial register on April 25, 1931. The entries in the directory of Porsche construction orders show that the first six items (Type 1 - Type 6) have been left blank. This was deliberately done so that the client did not get the impression that his orders were the first to be received by Porsche. The entries type 7: chassis 1.86 liters; Type 8: chassis 3.25 liters; and Type 9: 3.25 liter chassis with compressor show Wanderer as the first Porsche customer. Smart marketing or a bit of cheating? Everyone can judge this for themselves.

Erwin Komenda was responsible for the body design of the Type 8 at Porsche. Overall, there were two slightly different prototypes of the Type 8: the streamlined body, which was later driven by Professor Porsche himself, and a sedan with a somewhat conventionally designed body. Both bodies were completed by Reutter in Stuttgart in 1932.

The Stuttgarter Karosseriewerk Reutter & Co. GmbH was based in Stuttgart and was founded in 1906. On December 1, 1963, the body shop in Zuffenhausen was sold to Porsche. After 58 years the company history of the Stuttgart bodyworks Reutter und Co. GmbH ended - and the first chapter of the new company RECARO (derived from REutter CAROsserie) was opened. Today Recaro is a global company for cars and aircraft seats and much more. Porsche is still a RECARO customer today.

In the Reutter directory, the type 8 was listed under number 3374 with the name Wanderer Urach limousine. In the Wanderer Directory, type 8 was only named type 8. He didn't get a common wanderer name. Porsche also developed the eight-cylinder type 8 engine.

In 1932 Auto Union took over the Wanderer works. Within Auto Union AG, Horch was entrusted with the construction and sale of large cars. Wanderer was given the task of building mid-range cars. As a result, a Wanderer automobile with an eight-cylinder engine no longer suited the desired Wanderer model range.

Ferdinand Porsche had completed his development task. Wanderer, however, still owed him money. It was agreed that the streamlined car would be offset as payment. Porsche also received further development contracts from Auto Union. Ferdinand Porsche drove the Type 8 streamlined car as a private car for several years. Unfortunately, nothing is known about the whereabouts of this wonderful unique piece.

The Type 8 was therefore the first order for Porsche after the establishment of its design office and the first and at the same time the last eight-cylinder engine from Wanderer.

The book from Delius Klasing Verlag is very well worth reading: Stuttgarter Karosseriewerk Reutter - From the Reform Body to the Porsche 356 (ISBN No. 978-3-7688-1829-2).