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Ambitious Project: 1962 Auto Union 1000S

042416 Barn Finds - 1962 Auto Union 1000S - 1

If you have more guts, experience, and talent than I do, this may be a car for you. This 1962 Auto Union 1000S is in Vernon-Rockville, Connecticut and it would be an ambitious project! The seller has it listed on eBay with no reserve and one bid of $500 so far; that is one brave person. I have a soft spot in my heart for 1962 vehicles since that’s when I was also made, and also for Audis since I’ve owned one for almost a decade and a half now. My 2002 TT ALMS Coupe is almost a modern version of this car and I’m probably the only person that I know of who would trade it for a perfect example of a 1962 Auto Union 1000S.

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This car replaced the DKW 3=6. I guess that name sounds like almost more of an advertising slogan than a car model. We probably all know that Auto Union was the culmination of the DKW, Audi, Horch, and Wanderer companies which was eventually taken over by Mercedes-Benz after WWII, and then again by Volkswagen in 1964. The 3=6 name was meant to invoke a similarity of power from the DKW two-stroke three-cylinder engine to the typical four-stroke six-cylinder of the day. While it did have a decent amount of power being a two-stroke, it didn’t exactly match the smoothness, quietness, or mpg of a six-cylinder engine, even if it had half the number of cylinders.

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You have noticed by now that the body of this car, while not looking absolutely horrible, looks like it needs an incredible amount of work. In looking at the detail photos you can especially see that it will be one heck of a lot of work to restore this car. This restoration will not be for the faint of heart, this will be a labor of love; a very time-consuming, expensive, labor or love. But, once you’re done you’ll have one heck of a cool, rare car!

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While I’m not sure if the seats are original, and they aren’t in horrible condition, the rest of the interior needs an incredible amount of work as you can tell from a few of the other interior photos on the eBay link above. This is a car that I would have to just bring in somewhere and say, “Work your magic”, there is no way that I could restore a car in this condition. Maybe one of you would have the experience to do such an intensive project as this one will be. It’s hard to believe that this interior could look like this again, but I know that anything can be restored.

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I’m a huge fan of three-cylinder engines and this is another reason that I like these cars. This is a 1L (980cc) three-cylinder with actually a decent amount of oomph at 50 hp and 62 ft-lb of torque; especially for a car that weighs only about a ton. The seller says that the engine turns over and has good compression. It could look like this again, I know that it could! There is a 4-speed column-shifted manual in this car and it’s also front-wheel-drive; it’s a pretty unique vehicle. I would love to have one of these cars someday but this one is beyond my restoration skills. Is this one a parts car or could you bring it back to life again?

Comments

  1. Avatar Steven C

    Would love to have this parked next to my 1987.5 Coupe GT. I would love to take this project on, really like doing metal fab. Too far away and too much else going on in my life for another project right now unfortunetly. Hope somebody saves this little guy.

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  2. Avatar Busyditch

    WOW This could be my dad’s car! He had a yellow 62 purchased as a second car in 63 to commute to his job as a Math teacher in Paterson NJ. The car served him well into the 100k area until he let my mom drive the car. She hadnt driven a stick in probably 30 years at that point, and I remember her frustration at the 4 in the tree. Of course she missed a shift and put a rod through the side of the block. It was sad to see the car towed away by her brother, my Uncle Bill. But being a race car driver, he refitted the little “Deek”with another motor, and Wild Bill used the car to race mini-stocks at dirt tracks in South NJ.

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  3. Avatar Steven C

    How did this only get 2 comments? This is really cool, interesting car and would be a great project.

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    • Avatar Scotty G Staff

      Steven – I know, I’m surprised, too! I was hoping that someone would offer to go in on it with me, this restoration won’t be cheap…

      Like 0
  4. Avatar renzo

    ANOTHER (!) “overhead fanshaft’ engine…

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  5. Avatar MikeH

    I love these cars as well. There were several at Carlisle the last time I was there. But this car—by the time you cut all the rust out of it, you won’t have anything left.

    Like 0
  6. Avatar Scotty G Staff

    Auction update: this car sold for $500!

    Like 0

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