Wartburg was a car

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

 marque manufactured in East Germany.

The name "Wartburg" derives from Wartburg Castle

Wartburg Castle

The Wartburg is a castle situated on a 1230-foot precipice to the southwest of, and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany...

 on one of the hills overlooking the town of Eisenach

Eisenach

Eisenach is a city in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated between the northern foothills of the Thuringian Forest and the Hainich National Park. Its population in 2006 was 43,626.-History:...

 where the cars were manufactured.

From the 1950s, Wartburgs had a three-cylinder

Cylinder (engine)

A cylinder is the central working part of a reciprocating engine or pump, the space in which a piston travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically cast from aluminum or cast iron before receiving precision machine work...

 two-stroke engine

Two-stroke cycle

A two-stroke engine is an internal combustion engine that completes the process cycle in one revolution of the crankshaft...

 with only seven moving parts (three piston

Piston

A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings. In an engine, its purpose is to transfer force from...

s, three connecting rod

Connecting rod

In a reciprocating piston engine, the connecting rod or conrod connects the piston to the crank or crankshaft. Together with the crank, they form a simple mechanism that converts linear motion into rotating motion....

s and one crankshaft

Crankshaft

The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank, is the part of an engine which translates reciprocating linear piston motion into rotation...

).

First usage of name

The marque dates back to 1898 when a car made by Automobilwerk Eisenach

Automobilwerk Eisenach

The Automobilwerk Eisenach was an automobile manufacturer in Eisenach, Germany.-Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach:Heinrich Ehrhardt founded the Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach in Eisenach on 3 December 1896 as a stock company...

 was named the Wartburgwagen. It consisted of a two-seating cane chair, four mudgards, two headlamps, and a two-cylinder, 765-cc engine. Its top speed was 25 mph. The name was dropped in 1904 when the company changed hands but re-appeared briefly in the early 1930s on the BMW 3/15 DA-3 Wartburg, which was BMW's first sports car

Sports car

A sports car is a small, usually two seat, two door automobile designed for high speed driving and maneuverability....

.

Main usage of name

The name was revived in 1956 by VEB Automobilwerk Eisenach and given to an updated version of their IFA

Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau

Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau , usually abbreviated as IFA, was a conglomerate and a union of companies for vehicle construction in the former East Germany ....

 F9 car which had been in production since 1950. The new car had a more powerful version of the three-cylinder two-stroke engine driving the front wheels and a completely new body.

Exports to West Germany

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

 started in 1958, and by the early 1960s the car was exported to many other countries, including the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Right hand drive models were first made in 1963 and exported to Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

, with British buyers being introduced to the car in 1964. However, just 550 examples (450 saloons and 100 estates) were sold in the UK.

The 311 model was manufactured in a number of variations, including pickup

Pickup truck

A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area .-Definition:...

, estate

Station wagon

A station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...

, and two-seater roadster

Roadster

A roadster is a two-seat open car with emphasis on sporty handling and without a fixed roof or side weather protection. Strictly speaking a roadster with wind-up windows is a convertible but as true roadsters are no longer made the distinction is now irrelevant...

.

The engine was enlarged to 992 cc in 1962 and a completely new body was manufactured after 1966. This version was sold as the Wartburg Knight in several countries, including the UK, where the estate model was sold as the Tourist. It remained on sale until 1976, by which time nearly 20,000 had been sold. This marked the end of right-hand drive Wartburgs, but left-hand drive versions continued to be imported to the UK and at least one model was converted to right-hand drive.http://home.clara.net/peterfrost/wartburg.html

Also, in 1966, the gearbox gained synchromesh on all speeds and was designed to freewheel

Freewheel

thumb|Freewheel mechanismIn mechanical or automotive engineering, a freewheel or overrunning clutch is a device in a transmission that disengages the driveshaft from the driven shaft when the driven shaft rotates faster than the driveshaft...

 as an engine protection measure, which had the unfortunate side-effect that the car did not benefit from engine braking

Engine braking

Engine braking is where the retarding forces within an engine are used to slow a vehicle down, as opposed to using an external braking mechanism, for example friction brakes or magnetic brakes....

. Because the engine was a two stroke unit, it relied on the passage of the petrol mixture (A mixture of special two stroke oil and petrol, at a ratio of 1:50) to lubricate the engine. Without the freewheel device, on long down-hill runs the engine could be starved of lubricant and seize unless the throttle was opened briefly from time to time. Nevertheless, it was possible to disengage the freewheel device, recommended to give engine braking in snowy/icy conditions.

The new car, the 353

Wartburg 353

The Wartburg 353, known in some export markets as the Wartburg Knight, is a medium-sized family car, produced by East German car manufacturer Wartburg. It was the successor of the Wartburg 311, and was itself succeeded by the Wartburg 1.3....

, was known in some export markets as the Wartburg Knight.
There are four editions of Wartburg 353:

-Wartburg 353 from 1966

-Wartburg 353W from 1977

-Wartburg 353W from 1983

-Wartburg 353S from 1986

There are three models of Wartburg 353 - Limousine (sedan), Tourist (combi) and Trans (pickup). The 353W modification had a new, round-shaped dashboard and black-coloured grille. It was also fitted with disc brakes on the front axle. The 353S modification featured new rectangular headlights integrated into the grille of a new shape. Moreover, the radiator was moved from behind the engine (353, 353W) to the classic position behind the grille.
The engine of the car is two stroke with 50-57 horsepower (depending on the carburettor type).
This model has the top speed of 150 km/h but some modified versions can reach 210 km/h (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...

).

In 1988 the new model Wartburg 1.3 replaced the old model 353S, featuring the reliable engine from the Volkswagen Golf

Volkswagen Golf

The Volkswagen Golf is a small family car manufactured by Volkswagen since 1974 and marketed worldwide across six generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplates – as the Volkswagen Rabbit in the United States and Canada , and as the Volkswagen Caribe in Mexico .The...

.
The new model has four stroke modified engine from Volkswagen with 64 horsepower. The final nail in its coffin was the runup to German reunification

German reunification

German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...

. The introduction of the Deutsche mark

German mark

The Deutsche Mark |mark]], abbreviated "DM") was the official currency of West Germany and Germany until the adoption of the euro in 2002. It is commonly called the "Deutschmark" in English but not in German. Germans often say "Mark" or "D-Mark"...

 (DM) pushed the cost of producing a car up to 20,000 DM. However, it is not likely there would have been a place for Wartburg in the reunified economy in any event, given the amount of pollution it produced. Production ended in April 1991, and the factory was acquired by Opel

Opel

Adam Opel AG, generally shortened to Opel, is a German automobile company founded by Adam Opel in 1862. Opel has been building automobiles since 1899, and became an Aktiengesellschaft in 1929...

.

There are still many cars in drivable condition and Wartburg owners' clubs exist throughout Europe. Many Wartburgs are still used as rally racing cars.

Derivatives

The sports car

Sports car

A sports car is a small, usually two seat, two door automobile designed for high speed driving and maneuverability....

 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...

 used a mid-mounted three-cylinder two-stroke engine from the Wartburg 353

Wartburg 353

The Wartburg 353, known in some export markets as the Wartburg Knight, is a medium-sized family car, produced by East German car manufacturer Wartburg. It was the successor of the Wartburg 311, and was itself succeeded by the Wartburg 1.3....

.

Models

• 311
  Wartburg 311
  The Wartburg 311 was a car produced by East German car manufacturer VEB Automobilwerk Eisenach from 1956 to 1965. The 311 model was manufactured in a number of variations, including pickup, sedan, limousine, coupe, and as a two-seater roadster. The engine was enlarged to 992cc in 1962.The 311 model...
  
  , 1956–65
• 353 (Knight)
  Wartburg 353
  The Wartburg 353, known in some export markets as the Wartburg Knight, is a medium-sized family car, produced by East German car manufacturer Wartburg. It was the successor of the Wartburg 311, and was itself succeeded by the Wartburg 1.3....
  
  , 1965–88
• 1.3, 1988–91

External links

• History of Wartburg — long introduction
• IFA Mobile 2takt Vereniging — the so called oldest association of East German cars
• Wartburgpage — acts and images
• Polish Wartburg Club — Polski Klub Wartburga
• New Wartburg V8 — German report on Eisenach Online