DKW models

DKW was a German car and motorcycle brand founded in 1916 in Zschopau, Saxony, by the Danish engineer Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen. The name comes from Dampfkraftwagen, a steam car project that failed. DKW made its name with two-stroke engines and by the late 1920s was the world's largest motorcycle maker.

In 1932 DKW merged with Audi, Horch and Wanderer to form Auto Union, an ancestor of today's Audi. Its F1 of 1931 was among Europe's first volume-produced front-wheel-drive cars, and the F8 followed in 1938–1942. After the war the headquarters moved to Ingolstadt in 1949; Daimler-Benz acquired Auto Union in 1957 and Volkswagen in 1964. Post-war two-stroke models included the DKW Junior of 1959–1965 and the F102, the last German-built DKW car, which ended in 1966 and was succeeded by the four-stroke Audi F103. The Munga off-roader kept the DKW name alive on the road until 1968. See also Horch.