The Proof is in the Photos

Ingolstadt, in the second half of the 1950s: At the DKW plant, technicians were working on a new range of vehicles. Visitors to the International Motor Show in 1957 were able to admire the results. As DKW 600, the Ingolstadt-based company designated its new car, which finally ran off the production line under the name ‘Junior’ from August 1959.

The appearance reflected straight lines and thus replaced the previously popular rounded shape. The discreet shape of the front and the rear end with the integrated lights was a gentle reference to the zeitgeist of the tail fin cars, as they were very popular in the USA. The Junior left the Ingolstadt production halls exclusively as a two-door version.

So far, this is all verifiable vehicle history. What did not come into general knowledge was a special version as a station wagon.

The characteristic attributed to the Junior of good all-round view due to thin pillars was also found in the concept car. The large trunk, which was also praised in the production model, would probably also have applied in the extended version. Why this station wagon version was ultimately not mass-produced has been lost over the year.

So it remained the case that only photos provide proof of what a station wagon version of a Junior would have looked like at the beginning of the 1960s.

The turnover of this model car is subject to differential taxation according to § 25a USTG: This means 0% VAT.

As Speed did not matter!

Imagine that a car would drive almost 35 km/h faster than the original vehicle just due to changes in its car body design. In our time, this would be a sure selling point, but in 1923 it was apparently not worth mentioning.

This is documented when Audi presented its mid-size passenger car, the Type K – correctly referred to as the Audi 14/50 hp Type K to the public for the first time at the 1921 Berlin Motor Show. Visually, the car was kept in keeping with the times. This meant that straight lines dominated the design. The mighty radiator grille with its two large headlights on both sides resisted the wind just as much as the rectangular windscreen.

In 1923, the pioneer of aerodynamics in vehicle construction, Paul Jaray, took hands on the Audi K and shaped a new car body according to his studies. In the zeitgeist of the early 1920s, the body of the Jaray-Audi showed no resemblance at all to its commercially available counterpart. From this point of view, there is still understanding today when Audi’s management reacted very cautiously to the streamlined, futuristic car. The managers must have been sure that such a revolutionary look could not be sold in large-scale production. Even the increase in the top speed from the standard 95 km/h to a remarkable 130 km/h would probably not have convinced any buyer- speed was not a real selling point at that time!

Shall it be a little rounder?

As in 1933 the long-distance race ‘2,000 km through Germany’ was advertised and organized for the first time, this event was intended as a counterpart to other large, well-known events, such as the Mille Miglia. The premiere of the race met expectations and the second edition was planned for 1934.

In 1933, Wanderer, part of the freshly merged Auto Union (1932) based in Chemnitz, Saxony, felt addressed to create vehicles specially built for the long-distance race. These models were based on the commercially available W 22 model, which was presented in 1933. 

For the first edition of the long-distance race, the responsible gentlemen in the management at Wanderer apparently wanted to present themselves as an innovative and future-oriented plant and had three production chassis fitted with an new sheet metal body.

For the realization of the body, the series chassis was handed over to the workshop of “Karosserie Hornig”.

At that time, designer Erich Lüsebrink was the driving force behind the design. Especially for the long distance races, it was decided to fit the Wanderer with a coupe car bodies, which were designed as ‘semi-streamliner’. This differed for the production model manly in a long, semi-circular sloping rear section. In one of these sports cars, a gentlemen named Bernd Rosemeyer, who was only known to insiders at the time, completed his first competition on four wheels.

None of the cars have survived to the present day, but AUDI Tradition decided to rebuild a vehicle based on historical plans and photos (2014-2022)

The turnover of this model car is subject to differential taxation according to § 25a USTG: This means 0% VAT.