DKW history   

Thes 3 letters DKW have several significances which correspond to the various activities of the company before it started making cars. The 3 letters come from the abbreviation of Dampf Kraft Wagen which means vapor vehicle. Indeed, the German DKW company started studying vapor cars prototypes. Then, it started making a small 2 stroke engine of 18 cm3 to animate scientific toys from where the terme of  Das Knafen Wunsch (the dream, the wish of little boys) before developing  a bicycle engine that will the term of Das Kleine Wunder (little marvel). The success of this engine explain why, in 1928, DKW is the largest motor bikes factory of the world. The same year, the company produced it first car : a front wheel drive car.

In 1932, the firm became part of Auto-Union combine and resumed building cars and bikes until the war. The post-war production will begin again only in 1950.

This production will include many models in various versions. Nevertheless, the company come under Daimler-Benz control in 1958 and was bought by Volkswagen in 1965. The production ceases definitively in 1968 after the manufacture stop of last model : the 4X4 Munga.

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