Wartburg
Wartburg was the trade name of the passenger car series that was manufactured by the IFA (Industrial Association for Vehicle Construction) between 1893 and 1903 as well as between 1956 and 1991 in the VEB Automobilwerk Eisenach (AWE).
Wartburg – An EMW-model
The first automobile made in the Automobilwerk Eisenach was the Wartburg-motor vehicle that was constructed in 1893 and modeled on the Decauville Voiturette. Approximately 250 vehicles of this series were manufactured until 1903. After the first Wartburg-series the production under this trade name was finished for the time being. In 1928 the Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach (FFE) was taken over by the Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) and under the Soviet occupation in 1946 it was renamed Sowjetische AG Maschinenabu Awtowelo (Soviet Awtowelo Co.). After the company’s nationalisation in 1952 the Automobilwerk Eisenach was renamed Eisenacher Motorenwerke (EMW).
Wartburg – the development of a model
Only four years later the trade name Wartburg was revived and the Wartburg 311 was developed. The vehicle was a further development of a previous model, the IFA F96. With the new version of the vehicle its frame was extended in order to be able to develop a bigger carriage. Over the years the Wartburg was improved until in 1962 it became the Wartburg 1000, which back then convinced with a cubic capacity of 1 litre and a horse power of 45. About three years later a modern version of the Wartburg was produced: the Wartburg 312. The car was constructed with an improved underbody and frame. This series was very successful so that in the following year its production was advanced to the Wartburg 353. The features of this vehicle were 13 inch wheels with independent wheel suspension and coil springs at both axes as well as a ponton body.
About a decade later the Wartburg 353 W was introduced to the automobile market, and it was then equipped with disc-brakes and upgraded with many details. In the 1960s two-stroke engines were no longer used and thus the company AWE, like other manufacturers did, began with the construction of a four-stroke engine. However, these engines were not supposed to be produced in the GDR so that the construction was not finished. In addition to that, in 1974 Great Britain prohibited vehicles with two-stroke engines. Consequently, due to the old engines the export became more and more difficult and thus kept decreasing.
In the late 1980s a Volkswagen-engine would eliminate the problem with the two-stroke engine. Doing so, the Wartburg 353 would be re-constructed so that a diagonal fitting of the engine was made possible. In the end, the Wartburg was laboriously shaped according to the requirements and on the 12th of October in 1988 the Wartburg 1 was produced. The new four-stroke engine had a cubic capacity of 1,3 litres and an output of 58 h.p., and above all a new four-speed-transmission was installed. Finally, the last Wartburg was produced in April 1991 for the Automobilwerk Eisenach was closed by the Treuhand agency after the end of the GDR.
Today, the Wartburg vehicles belong to the most precious collection of classic cars. Especially the Wartburg-motor vehicles made in the year 1899 are still nowadays a very popular model.