DKW F2

The DKW F2, firstly marketed as "DKW Meisterklasse", is a front wheel drive economy car produced by Auto Union's DKW division from 1932 to 1935 at the company’s Zwickau plant. It was launched at the Berlin Motor Show in April 1932. It shared its 584cc engine and drivetrain with its DKW F1 predecessor, but offered a longer wheelbase and a larger body. Although the DKWs offered a fully enclosed body on a relatively advanced chassis with four wheel independent suspension, they used two-stroke motorcycle derived engines, and cheap, lightweight bodies of timber, clad in artificial leather, like the F1. Known within the company and in retrospect as the DKW F2, this was the first of several successive small DKWs cars to be marketed using the name, “DKW Meisterklasse”. The car came with the 584cc 2-stroke 2-cylinder engine of the early DKW F1, initially still producing a claimed maximum power output of 11 kW (15 PS) at 3500 rpm. The power is sent to the front wheels via a 3-speed manual transmission. The body was based on a self-supporting timber frame with a “U-profile” subframe. All four wheels were attached via independent suspension. The most frequently specified body was a “cabrio-limousine”, a four seater two-door body with a soft top but fixed window frames at the side.