Weary of your Wartburg? Tired of your Trabant? If you’re ready to divorce your current two-stroke, we have another option: this 1964 DKW F11 is in restoration-ready condition, with an engine that turns and most of its parts still present. Find it here on craigslist for $1000, located in Newhall, California. Zappenduster is on a roll, finding weird car after weird car for us to write up – thanks! Before we leave this photo, try to find the driver’s side front tire – yeah, you can see a sliver of the front rim and the contact patch, but they’re waaayyy under there. The DKW’s ponton bodywork sits over a very narrow track.
Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen founded DKW in 1916; the company acquired and merged its way into its final resting spot, Volkswagen Group, in 1964. The last DKW was produced in 1966. The car’s tip-toe stance wasn’t its only eccentricity: DKWs always used two-stroke engines — this one is a 796 cc inline-three; the radiator is mounted against the firewall at the back of the engine; and there is no water pump. Instead, the cooling system relies on thermosyphon – a form of heat convection. Unfortunately, DKW defeated its intent by burying that radiator, so overheating on idle is common. The seller believes that his car will start with a new set of points. Maybe? A four-speed column-shift manual handles gear changes for the 34 hp engine, sending power to the front wheels. As you can imagine, attaining 60 mph was nothing like a sprint – more of a stroll, approaching 30 seconds.
The new owner will have plenty to do in here. The dash pad is completely disintegrated, as is the passenger’s seat. The instrument panel surface is weathered off, the center gauge and steering wheel need restoration, and virtually everything else needs to be replaced. Thanks to its front-wheel drive configuration, the DKW’s cabin is roomy, though encouraging passengers did nothing for performance.
The F11 retains the rear fins of its older siblings, but the charming, slanted tail lamps are now surrounded by a wider chrome bezel. Shortly after this car was made, two-stroke engines lost favor in most countries. Remembering to throw a quart of oil in the gas tank with every fill-up, and coping with noise and smoke, rendered the entire experience ever less appealing. If this DKW makes it into your garage, restoration help can be found here and here, but don’t expect an easy process.
Another from Crazy “Michelle” Vaclavs Place of Automobiles,,, “it will go 300 hectares on a single liter of kerosene”. May I remind folks what we were doing in 1964? “Little GTO”, and so on. We would use these motors to start our bigger motors. As tough as it is for us, these actually did the job. At about 5,000 marks, a bit more than a VW bug,( 4750 marks) it was still pricey. I read, a common wage in Germany in ’64 was about 366 marks/mo. so still considered a luxury. Unless someone has DKWs lying around, best to repower it with something useful. GoldWing motor? Cool find.
This is a neat find. I didn’t realize that the radiator was up against the firewall. What were they thinking? But anyways, I learned a lot more about DKW today thanks to Michelle and her research. And a thanks to Zappenduster for finding this car too. Iy would be fun to drive one of these restored, you’d be the only one at a Cars and Coffee for sure.
Wow! Some old memories dislodged with this car; if it was a medium blue color I’d have real deja vu. We used to go swimming at the pool in Sunburst, MT. A lady would show up with her brood, driving one of these. Every once in a while the starter would jam and the only way to dislodge it would be to push it backwards until you heard a distinct clunk. Then the starter would do its job. I’m surprised that it seemed to act up only at the pool although I’m sure it caused problems elsewhere.
And that two-stroke engine with its blue cloud of smoke and the distinctive engine sound…
When I saw this listing a week ago, I was “all in” and ready to hitch up the trailer and drive to Newhall. That was until I saw the photo of the barbecued dash and seats. That was enough to change my mind! I do think the homemade hood scoops are a nice touch, though. I have seen a couple of these in nice shape over the years, and they are a quirky and cool-