This fun pair of rare pictures was provided courtesy of Jos Mol, our DKW Motorcycle Liason.
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The top illustration is one of the many beautifully drawn
advertisements
for the DKW Sonderklasse of the early 1950's. Pictured here is an
F91 that was introduced in 1953. It was a development of the F9
advanced
prototype (did DKW introduce the "dream car" concept?) and used the 34
hp (25kw) 3 cylinder two stroke engine. They were offered in a
two
door saloon (illustrated), a convertible and a three door estate
wagon.
They had front wheel drive, a three speed transmission ( a four speed
later)
and a top speed of about 75 mph (120 kph). The smooth lines of
the
Sonderklasse became familiar in West Germany - as did the cloud of blue
smoke from the gas and oil mixture that usually followed them.
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The bottom photo is a rare picture of a Binder sidecar that
attached to the 250 cc DKW motorcycle. Binder sidecars were
specifically
fabricated for the 250 and 350 cc DKW motorcycles. Binder made
metal
products and the sidecar was just one of their products. About
800
were produced by special order of DKW. About 30 are known to
still
exist. The photo is a genuine "Werksphoto" from the '50's.
It shows two typical features... the "bonnet" that can be opened to
facilitate
entry into the cabin and the "radiator grill" reminiscent of the
Sonderklasse
cars of this era as depicted in the upper picture. Today, such
combinations
represent rare cases of motorcycle history.