Model Life
The F8 had replaced the DKW F7 after only a two year model life. The small DKWs were among the best selling small cars in Germany during the 1930s, and regular model replacement was part of Auto Union's successful marketing strategy. It seems that the F8 was itself scheduled for relatively rapid replacement by the steel bodied DKW F9. War intervened, however, and production of the Reichsklasse and Cabriolet was ended in 1940. Production of the Meisterklasse continued till 1942. By 1942, when passenger car production at Zwickau was ended, approximately 50,000 F8s had been produced. Sales of new F8 cars and chassis continued until 1944, and the Swiss coachbuilding firm of Holka was still bodying new F8 chassis during 1943 and 1944. That firm even introduced a new cabriolet in 1944, though only a small number were produced. Directly after the war it took some time for DKW production to resume, but prewar F8s did soon appear on German roads: the car had been a big seller before the war and military personnel during the first half of the 1940s had found the modest dimensions and performance of the F8 relatively unappealing.
At the 1947 Leipzig Fair the car reappeared, badged now as the DKW-IFA F8. Production of the eastern IFA F8 recommenced in or before 1949 at the Auto Union's Zwickau factory which was in the Soviet occupied zone of Germany and was expropriated to become the Volkseigener Betrieb (or "People Owned Enterprise") Automobilwerke Zwickau (AWZ).
It is believed that by 1955 a further 26,267 of the cars had been built as IFA F8s. Under an "inter-zone" trade agreement concluded in 1950/51 approximately 1,000 of the cars were exported to what had by now de facto become the separate country of West Germany. A wider range of body options included an estate and light commercial variants. In 1954 a Cabriolet deluxe was introduced, intended primarily as an export special for the western market. After the IFA brand had been phased out, the final F8s were evidently badged as Wartburgs. The two-cylinder 700 cc two-stroke engine lived on in the iconic Trabant.
E.M.W. ( IFA F9), 1954.
| DKW / IFA F8 | DKW F8 Reichsklasse 2-door saloon 2-door cabriolet |
DKW F8 Meisterklasse 2-door saloon 2-door cabriolet |
DKW F8 Front Luxus Cabriolet 2-door sports body cabriolet |
IFA F8 2-door saloon 2-door cabriolet |
IFA F8 cabriolet 2-door sports body cabriolet |
IFA F8 Commercial Delivery Van |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Produced: | 1939–1940 | 1939–1942 | 1939–1940 | 1948–1955 | 1949–1955 | - |
| Engine: | 2-cylinder in-line engine (two-stroke), front-mounted | |||||
| Bore x Stroke: | 74 mm x 68.5 mm | 76 mm x 76 mm | ||||
| Displacement: | 589 cc | 692 cc | 690 cc | |||
| Max. Power @ rpm: | 18 hp (13 kW) @ 3500 | 20 hp (15 kW) @ 3500 | ||||
| Max. Torque @ rpm: | - | - | - | 49 N·m (36 lb·ft) @ 2500 | 49 N·m (36 lb·ft) @ 2500 | 49 N·m (36 lb·ft) @ 2500 |
| Fuel feed: | single carburetor | single carburetor "VEB Berliner-Vergaser-Filterwerke" | ||||
| Fuel Mixture: | Petrol/gasoline:oil 25:1 | |||||
| Valvetrain: | tba | |||||
| Cooling: | Water “Thermosiphonkühlung” (Gravity powered water pump) | |||||
| Gearbox: | 3-speed-manual with lockable freewheel device: facia mounted gear lever & front-wheel drive. | |||||
| Electrical system: | 6 volt | |||||
| Front suspension: | - | |||||
| Rear suspension:: | - | |||||
| Brakes: | 4-wheel drum | |||||
| Steering: | ||||||
| Body structure: | Box-frame chassis Bodywork: combination of fabric covered steel frame and steel panels |
|||||
| Dry weight: | 700 kg (1,500 lb) | 750 kg (1,700 lb) | 790 kg (1,700 lb) - 830 kg (1,800 lb) | 750 kg (1,700 lb) | 780 kg (1,700 lb) | 900 kg (2,000 lb) |
| Track front/ rear: |
1,190 mm (47 in) 1,250 mm (49 in) | 1,190 mm (47 in) 1,250 mm (49 in) | 1,190 mm (47 in) 1,250 mm (49 in) | - | - | - |
| Wheelbase: | 2,600 mm (100 in) | 2,600 mm (100 in) | 2,600 mm (100 in) | 2,600 mm (100 in) | 2,600 mm (100 in) | 2,600 mm (100 in) |
| Length: | 3,900 mm (150 in) | 3,990 mm (157 in) | 4,000 mm (160 in) | 3,900 mm (150 in) | 4,000 mm (160 in) | 3,900 mm (150 in) |
| Width: | 1,490 mm (59 in) | 1,490 mm (59 in) | 1,490 mm (59 in) | 1,480 mm (58 in) | 1,480 mm (58 in) | 1,480 mm (58 in) |
| Height: | 1,480 mm (58 in) | 1,480 mm (58 in) | 1,480 mm (58 in) | 1,480 mm (58 in) | 1,480 mm (58 in) | 1,480 mm (58 in) |
| Turning circle: | 12.0 m / 39' 4⅓" |
12.0 m / 39' 4⅓" |
12.0 m / 39' 4⅓" |
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