1963 Auto Union 1000 S unicum: A special case
As it is the Auto Union 1000 S de Luxe Coupé is known amongst appreciators as the capstone of its manufacturing series and an exceptional product of the DKW corporation. The series was already blessed with a strong engine with nearly 1000 cm³, all-metal-bodywork and panorama windscreen, but the Coupé was additionally topped off with disc brakes. The models of the Auto Union 1000 series, built from 1958 to 1963 are the only known DKW automobiles which do not wear the corporation’s “DKW” emblem on the hood, but are rather furnished with the manufacturer’s trademark, Audi’s four interlinked rings.
So from the start this special classic right here had pretty decent chances to flourish into an automobile rarity. When it left the factory in 1963 as one of the last Auto Union S de Luxe Coupés, nobody could have foreseen though that it would be cultivated into today’s unicum, with a thick emotional back-story.
The Auto UNion Classic’s unique handcrafted Bodywork
In 1968 it fell into the hands of seven students of the Palatine master school for craftsmen in Kaiserslautern, Germany. They used the coupé as the basis for their graduation project in the subject of coachbuilding. For three month they pounded, welded, sanded and galvanized new bodywork for the coupé into existence, complete with hood, doors, roof and rear. Their reconstruction was captivating due to its modern and alternative design elements and received high praise by the schools examining board. After that the freshly graduated coachbuilders and their masterpiece lost sight of one another.
But as fate works in mysterious ways, they were to meet again. The journey to that reunion would be a long and stony one though. After a brief stay in a warehouse somewhere in Frankfurt, Germany the customized Auto Union coupé was bought by a DKW-enthusiast from the Netherlands who inspected it thoroughly and then restored it with devotion and creativity to a new state of adorability. In order to properly renovate the classic car he used an Audi 60 bumper, Hella taillights, new headlights, a Porsche windscreen and an upside down installed FIAT 850 Sport rear window which were integrated in the former design vision of the seven coachbuilding students. So now the coupé additionally wears a red coat of paint and shines in its former splendor. It is a real looker!
Auto union 1000 S Coupé – Unmistakeable even after half a Century
And exactly like that the classmates met their graduation project again – 50 years later, on the occasion of a class reunion. Richard Wisse, one of seven coachbuilders, tracked the classic coupé down to a car trader in the Netherlands who gladly provided the Auto Union 1000 S de Luxe customized Coupé for the purposes of this long awaited reunion. And indeed, the seven former students recognized their former project at once based on tiny details in the bodywork. Their masterpiece was generally acknowledged with much respect and gazed upon with bright eyes – A notion we understand just to well!
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Photos Kucarfa BV; Audi AG
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