page_title: DKW
section_title: Pre-war production
hierarchical_section_title: DKW / Cars / Pre-war production
caption_attribution_description: DKW F8 Meisterklasse, Niemcy, 1939 r.
context_page_description: DKW is a German car and motorcycle marque. DKW was one of the four companies that formed Auto Union in 1932 and is hence an ancestor of the modern day Audi company.
  In 1916, Danish engineer Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen founded a factory in Zschopau, Saxony, Germany, to produce steam fittings. That year he attempted to produce a steam-driven car, called the DKW. Although unsuccessful, he made a two-stroke toy engine in 1919, called Des Knaben Wunsch – "the boy's wish". He put a slightly modified version of this engine into a motorcycle and called it Das Kleine Wunder – "the little wonder" the initials from this becoming the DKW brand: by the late 1920s, DKW was the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer.
  In September 1924, DKW bought Slaby-Beringer, saving them from Germany's hyperinflation economic crisis. Rudolf Slaby became chief-engineer at DKW.
  In 1932, DKW merged with Audi, Horch and Wanderer to form Auto Union. After World War II, DKW moved to West Germany. The original factory became MZ. Auto Union came under Daimler-Benz ownership in 1957 and was purchased by the Volkswagen Group in 1964. The last German-built DKW car was the F102, which ceased production in 1966.
context_section_description: DKW Typ P (1928–1931)
  DKW Typ 4=8 (1929–1940)
  DKW F1 (1931–1932)
  DKW F2 (1932–1935)
  DKW F4 (1934–1935)
  DKW F5 (1935–1937)
  DKW F7 (1937–1938)
  DKW F8 (1939–1942)
  DKW F9 prototype (1939)
caption: DKW F8 Meisterklasse (1939–1942)
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