Coys Auction - Automoto D‘Epoca
Padova Fiera
Padova, Italy
Saturday 24th October 2009
Admission by catalogue only - admits two
In 1916, the Danish engineer Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen founded a factory in Saxony, Germany, to produce steam fittings. In the same year, he attempted to produce a steam-driven car, called the DKW. Although unsuccessful, he made a two-stroke toy engine in 1919, called Des Knaben Wunsch — "the boy‘s desire". He also put a slightly modified version of this engine into a motorcycle and called it Das Kleine Wunder — "the little marvel". This was the real beginning of the DKW brand: by the 1930s, DKW was the world‘s largest motorcycle manufacturer.
DKW motor cars were made from 1928 until 1966. They always used two-stroke engines and, from 1931, the company was a pioneer in front-wheel drive and transverse mounting. The most well-known cars made before World War II, bearing model names F1 through F8 (F for Front), had front-wheel drive and a transversely mounted two-c