1932 DKW F2
The DKW F2 was a small car produced at the company’s Zwickau plant by DKW (part of the Auto Union) between 1932 and 1935. Launched at the Berlin Motor Show in April 1932, it shared its 584cc engine and front wheel drive configuration with its predecessor, but came with a longer wheelbase and a larger body. Known within the company and in retrospect as the DKW F2, this was the first of several successive small DKWs cars to be marketed using the more pleasing name, “DKW Meisterklasse”.
The car came with the 584cc 2-stroke 2-cylinder engine of the early DKW F1, initially still producing a claimed maximum power output of 11 kW (15 PS) at 3500 rpm. The drive was taken to the front wheels via a 3-speed manual transmission.
The body was based on a self-supporting timber frame with a “U-profile” subframe. All four wheels were attached via independent suspension. The most frequently specified body was a “cabrio-limousine”, a four seater two-door body with a soft top but fixed window frames at the side. A “full cabriolet” was also offered. The body was strikingly longer and more elegantly styled than that of the pioneering DKW F1.
In 1933 the engine was upgraded through the inclusion of Schnürle porting to the top portions of each of the cylinders. The system, designed by the two-stroke engine expert Adolf Schnürle, increased the efficiency of the fuel feed and extraction into and out of the cylinders and enabled the manufacturer to raise the claimed maximum power output of the 584cc engine to 13 kW (18 PS). The system would appear on a many of the F2’s 2-stroke engined successors through and beyond the 1930s. As the first in a succession of confusing model name changes from DKW, the 584cc engined car with the improved fuel feed system was renamed the DKW Reichsklasse.
At the same time as the DKW Meisterklasse (branded as the DKW Meisterklasse 601) had its 584cc engine upgraded and its name changed to DKW Reichsklasse, a larger engined version of the F2, also featuring Schnürle porting, was introduced, now taking the name DKW Meisterklasse 701. For the new 692cc engined version of the car maximum power output was stated as 15 kW (20 PS).
The car came with the 584cc 2-stroke 2-cylinder engine of the early DKW F1, initially still producing a claimed maximum power output of 11 kW (15 PS) at 3500 rpm. The drive was taken to the front wheels via a 3-speed manual transmission.
The body was based on a self-supporting timber frame with a “U-profile” subframe. All four wheels were attached via independent suspension. The most frequently specified body was a “cabrio-limousine”, a four seater two-door body with a soft top but fixed window frames at the side. A “full cabriolet” was also offered. The body was strikingly longer and more elegantly styled than that of the pioneering DKW F1.
In 1933 the engine was upgraded through the inclusion of Schnürle porting to the top portions of each of the cylinders. The system, designed by the two-stroke engine expert Adolf Schnürle, increased the efficiency of the fuel feed and extraction into and out of the cylinders and enabled the manufacturer to raise the claimed maximum power output of the 584cc engine to 13 kW (18 PS). The system would appear on a many of the F2’s 2-stroke engined successors through and beyond the 1930s. As the first in a succession of confusing model name changes from DKW, the 584cc engined car with the improved fuel feed system was renamed the DKW Reichsklasse.
At the same time as the DKW Meisterklasse (branded as the DKW Meisterklasse 601) had its 584cc engine upgraded and its name changed to DKW Reichsklasse, a larger engined version of the F2, also featuring Schnürle porting, was introduced, now taking the name DKW Meisterklasse 701. For the new 692cc engined version of the car maximum power output was stated as 15 kW (20 PS).
