Melkus
Encyclopedia
Heinz Melkus
Heinz Melkus was an East-German race car driver and constructor of sport cars.He founded the company Melkus to produce race and sport cars, his Wartburg based Melkus RS 1000 was with 101 build units the most successful one.His sons, Peter and Sepp Melkus have resumed to build sports cars in...
in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
in East Germany. The company existed between 1959 and 1986. The cars used engines from Wartburgs and much of the other parts came from Wartburgs and Trabant
Trabant
The Trabant is a car that was produced by former East German auto maker VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau in Zwickau, Sachsen. It was the most common vehicle in East Germany, and was also exported to countries both inside and outside the communist bloc...
s. The racing cars competed in Formula III, Formula Junior
Formula Junior
Formula Junior is an open wheel formula racing class first adopted in October 1958 by the CSI . The class was intended to provide an entry level class where you could use inexpensive mechanical components from ordinary automobiles...
and Formula E
Formula Ford
Formula Ford is a single seater, open wheel class in motorsport which exists in some form in many countries around the world. It is an entry-level series to motor racing....
.
The only road going car the company produced was the Melkus RS 1000
Melkus RS 1000
Melkus RS 1000 was a sports car from Melkus. It was a sleek sports car powered by a tuned mid-mounted Wartburg 3-cylinder 2-stroke engine from the Wartburg 353. Most of the cars used the 992 cc version giving a top speed of 175 km/h, but some of the later cars had the 1200 cc version...
. It was a sleek sports car powered by a tuned mid-mounted Wartburg 3-cylinder 2-stroke engine. Most of the cars used the 992 cc version, but some of the later cars had the 1200 cc version. It had gullwing doors. 101 cars were made.
The company stopped making cars in 1986. In the early 1990s, Heinz Melkus and his family started running a BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
dealership in Dresden.
In December 2006, Melkus engineering - a German company owned by Peter Melkus, son of Heinz Melkus
Heinz Melkus
Heinz Melkus was an East-German race car driver and constructor of sport cars.He founded the company Melkus to produce race and sport cars, his Wartburg based Melkus RS 1000 was with 101 build units the most successful one.His sons, Peter and Sepp Melkus have resumed to build sports cars in...
, announced that it will re-launch the production of Melkus RS 1000
Melkus RS 1000
Melkus RS 1000 was a sports car from Melkus. It was a sleek sports car powered by a tuned mid-mounted Wartburg 3-cylinder 2-stroke engine from the Wartburg 353. Most of the cars used the 992 cc version giving a top speed of 175 km/h, but some of the later cars had the 1200 cc version...
sports car. There are far gone plans to launch an updated version of the RS 1000 as well as a new design called the Melkus RS 2000. It will be powered by either an Opel engine or a 150 to 200 hp Volkswagen turbo engine. There is also talk about a GT model with 300 hp.
The new Melkus RS2000 premiered at the Frankfurt International Motor Show 2009.
Models
- Melkus JAP Eigenbau (1954)
- Melkus Formel Junior Baureihe (1959/60)
- Melkus Formel Junior Baureihe (1961/62)
- Melkus Formel Junior Baureihe (1963)
- Melkus Formel 3 Baureihe (1964)
- Melkus SRG MT 77
- Melkus PT 73 SpyderMelkus PT 73 SpyderMelkus PT 73 Spyder was a prototype racing car built by Melkus in 1973. It consisted of a new, open chassis for the Melkus RS 1000. The design was inspired by the Škoda Metalex. It used a 1100 cc, three cylinder, triple carburetor two-stroke Wartburg engine giving 110 hp....
- Melkus Lada ML89
- Melkus BMW MB90
- Melkus Silberpfeil
- Melkus Zigarre
- Melkus RS 1000Melkus RS 1000Melkus RS 1000 was a sports car from Melkus. It was a sleek sports car powered by a tuned mid-mounted Wartburg 3-cylinder 2-stroke engine from the Wartburg 353. Most of the cars used the 992 cc version giving a top speed of 175 km/h, but some of the later cars had the 1200 cc version...
- Melkus RS 2000 (2008)
- Melkus RS 2000 GT (2011)
- Melkus RS 2000 GTS (2011)
External links
- Melkus - Dresden based BMW and LotusLotus CarsLotus Cars is a British manufacturer of sports and racing cars based at the former site of RAF Hethel, a World War II airfield in Norfolk. The company designs and builds race and production automobiles of light weight and fine handling characteristics...
dealer - Melkus Motorsport
- Wartburg article with Melkus pictures