Auto-Union 1000 SP Coupé - 1960
It all began with a steam-driven car: bulky, heavy, ugly and difficult to get moving. This set the tone for the future of Dampf Kraft Wagen, which excelled at not excelling. Famed (or rather notorious) for its lack of adventurous design and mediocre engines, DKW sought improvement in 1932 through a merger with Horch, Audi and Wanderer to create Auto-Union. It was the harsh economic reality of the times that forced the Germans to consider this huge conglomerate, although all four brands kept their name and their identity. For DKW this meant various (but not 50) shades of grey. Moreover, its vehicles were as bland as the company’s image. DKW built masses of small two-stroke cars that were mockingly known as ‘Duitse Kinder Wagens’ (German Children’s Cars). Things did not get appreciably better after the Second World War, with the company still producing new models that looked old before they were launched. The type 1000 was a typical example. It was the only saloon car that ever bore the name Auto-Union on its bodywork and the very first with the four interlocking rings on the shield on its grille. It was this run of the run-of-the-mill vehicle that the new owners, Daimler-Benz, tried to jazz up by launching the 1000 SP. The suffix stood for Spezial and not for Sport, because this coupé was anything but sporty. At a push, this last ever West German two-stroke model could generate 55 horsepower and reach a top speed of 140 kilometres per hour (with the wind behind it). No ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ yet. That being said, the 1000 SP at least had its looks going for it. Its sloping lines, tail fins, open-mouth radiator grille and smallish headlights gave it the appearance of a shark, albeit a sad one. This was another car with a mocking nickname: ‘Baby Thunderbird’, a reference to the more muscular Ford it attempted to resemble. DKW eventually had 5,004 units of the coupé version built by Baur in Stuttgart, a company that for many years had crafted top-class coachwork for BMW. Less than a thousand units of the later cabriolet version were made.
Mahy added this damaged shark dating from 1960 to his collection in 1977. It cost him peanuts, since at that time the SP 1000 was very definitely not in demand. Its production had been terminated abruptly in 1965, when Auto-Union was taken over by Volkswagen. The new owners had very different plans for the four rings.
981 cc
3 In-line 2-stroke
55 hp
Mahy - a Family of Cars
09/09/2021 - 31/10/2021
Vynckier Site
Nieuwevaart 51-53
Gent
Belgium
Auto-Union 1000 SP Coupé - 1960
It all began with a steam-driven car: bulky, heavy, ugly and difficult to get moving. This set the tone for the future of Dampf Kraft Wagen, which excelled at not excelling. Famed (or rather notorious) for its lack of adventurous design and mediocre engines, DKW sought improvement in 1932 through a merger with Horch, Audi and Wanderer to create Auto-Union. It was the harsh economic reality of the times that forced the Germans to consider this huge conglomerate, although all four brands kept their name and their identity. For DKW this meant various (but not 50) shades of grey. Moreover, its vehicles were as bland as the company’s image. DKW built masses of small two-stroke cars that were mockingly known as ‘Duitse Kinder Wagens’ (German Children’s Cars). Things did not get appreciably better after the Second World War, with the company still producing new models that looked old before they were launched. The type 1000 was a typical example. It was the only saloon car that ever bore the name Auto-Union on its bodywork and the very first with the four interlocking rings on the shield on its grille. It was this run of the run-of-the-mill vehicle that the new owners, Daimler-Benz, tried to jazz up by launching the 1000 SP. The suffix stood for Spezial and not for Sport, because this coupé was anything but sporty. At a push, this last ever West German two-stroke model could generate 55 horsepower and reach a top speed of 140 kilometres per hour (with the wind behind it). No ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ yet. That being said, the 1000 SP at least had its looks going for it. Its sloping lines, tail fins, open-mouth radiator grille and smallish headlights gave it the appearance of a shark, albeit a sad one. This was another car with a mocking nickname: ‘Baby Thunderbird’, a reference to the more muscular Ford it attempted to resemble. DKW eventually had 5,004 units of the coupé version built by Baur in Stuttgart, a company that for many years had crafted top-class coachwork for BMW. Less than a thousand units of the later cabriolet version were made.
Mahy added this damaged shark dating from 1960 to his collection in 1977. It cost him peanuts, since at that time the SP 1000 was very definitely not in demand. Its production had been terminated abruptly in 1965, when Auto-Union was taken over by Volkswagen. The new owners had very different plans for the four rings.
981 cc
3 In-line 2-stroke
55 hp
Mahy - a Family of Cars
09/09/2021 - 31/10/2021
Vynckier Site
Nieuwevaart 51-53
Gent
Belgium