Wanderer (company)

Wanderer
Industry Automobiles
Fate merged into Auto Union (only car division)
Founded 1896 by Johann Baptist Winklhofer und Richard Adolf Jaenicke
Defunct 1945
Headquarters Saxony, Germany

Wanderer was a German manufacturer of bicycles, motorcycles, automobiles, vans and other machinery. Established as Winklhofer & Jaenicke in 1896 by Johann Baptist Winklhofer und Richard Adolf Jaenicke, the company used the Wanderer brand name from 1911, making civilian automobiles until 1941 and military vehicles until 1945.

History

Wanderer W 23 Cabriolet 1938
Wanderer W 24 1937
Wanderer W 24 Limousine 1939
Wanderer W25K (1936–1938)
Wanderer W51S

Winklhofer & Jaenicke, the business that became eventually known for its Wanderer cars, was established in 1896 in Chemnitz. They built motorcycles from 1902 and automobiles from 1903. The Wanderer brand was chosen in 1911 for overseas exports and was soon adopted for domestic sales.

The first two- or three-seater models used four-cylinder 1145 cc and 1220 cc engines. The 1220 cc model lasted until 1925. The first six-cylinder model appeared in 1928. By 1926, when Wanderer introduced a successful Typ 10, the company was making 25 vehicles a day; parts were made at the old plant in Chemnitz and assembled at the 1927 built new site in Siegmar, delivered by rail right to the assembly line. Motorcycle production continued in Chemnitz alone.

During the Great Depression, in 1929, the company owner, Dresdner Bank, sold the motorcycle business to František Janeček, and in 1932 divested the rest of Wanderer. The car division with its Siegmar factory became part of Auto Union together with Horch, Audi and DKW. In this quartet, Horch was positioned as the luxury brand, DKW built cheap two-stroke cars, Audi and Wanderer competed in different segments of mid-priced, technologically advanced small cars (heaviest, 6-cylinder Wanderers reached 1.5 tons dry weight). Wanderers of Nazi period acquired a trademark radiator design, shaped as a heraldic shield.

The next model W17 7/35 PS was propelled by a new 1692 cc OHV four-cylinder engine developed by Ferdinand Porsche. In 1933 the new Audi Front was equipped with the Wanderer W22 engine, a 1950 cc OHV six-cylinder, also a construction of F. Porsche. The top model from 1936 to 1939 was W50, propelled by a 2257 cc six-cylinder engine. From 1937 on there were also sporting fours (W24 and W25) and another six-cylinder model of 2632 cc (W23), propelled by new Flathead engines constructed by Auto Union itself. Wanderer cars were always admired for their high quality and sporting character. During World War II all civilian production was replaced in 1941 with licence-built military vehicles, such as Steyr 1500A light truck. A subcamp of Flossenbürg concentration camp, KZ Siegmar-Schonau, was operated during the war to provide slave labour for the Wanderer vehicle plants.[1] From 1943 on the Auto Union Siegmar plant produced Maybach HL230 V12 engines, used in many heavy tanks of the German Wehrmacht.

The Wanderer Siegmar plant (now Chemnitz) of Auto Union were destroyed in early 1945, closing this chapter in the history of automobiles. Post-war efforts to restore East German auto industry concentrated on Auto Union facilities in Zwickau and Zschopau: Wanderer car production never recovered, with Auto Union relocating to Ingolstadt, West Germany, where the company was rebuilt based using the DKW and ultimately, the Audi brand.

Automobile models

Type Years Engine type Displacement Engine power Top speed
W1 (5/12 PS) "Puppchen" 1912–1913 straight-4 1147 cc 12 PS (8,8 kW) 70 km/h (43 mph)
W2 (5/15 PS) "Puppchen" 1913–1914 straight-4 1222 cc 15 PS (11 kW) 70 km/h (43 mph)
W3 (5/15 PS) "Puppchen" 1914–1919 straight-4 1286 cc 15 PS (11 kW) 70 km/h (43 mph)
W4 (5/15 PS) "Puppchen" 1919–1924 straight-4 1306 cc 17 PS (12,5 kW) 78 km/h (48 mph)
W6 (6/18 PS) 1921–1923 straight-4 1551 cc 18 PS (13,2 kW) 80 km/h (50 mph)
W9 (6/24 PS) 1923–1925 straight-4 1551 cc 24 PS (17,6 kW) 85 km/h (53 mph)
W8 (5/20 PS) “Puppchen” 1925–1926 straight-4 1306 cc 20 PS (14,7 kW) 78 km/h (48 mph)
W10/I (6/30 PS) 1926–1928 straight-4 1551 cc 30 PS (22 kW) 85 km/h (53 mph)
W10/II (8/40 PS) 1927–1929 straight-4 1940 cc 40 PS (29 kW) 95 km/h (59 mph)
W11 (10/50 PS) 1928–1930 straight-6 2540 cc 50 PS (37 kW) 90 km/h (56 mph)
W10/IV (6/30 PS) 1930–1932 straight-4 1563 cc 30 PS (22 kW) 85 km/h (53 mph)
W11 (10/50 PS) 1930–1933 straight-6 2540 cc 50 PS (37 kW) 97 km/h (60 mph)
W14 (12/65 PS) 1931–1932 straight-6 2970–2995 cc 65 PS (48 kW) 105 km/h (65 mph)
W15 (6/30 PS) 1932 straight-4 1563 cc 30 PS (22 kW) 85 km/h (53 mph)
W17 (7/35 PS) 1932–1933 straight-6 1690 cc 35 PS (25,7 kW) 90 km/h (56 mph)
W20 (8/40 PS) 1932–1933 straight-6 1950 cc 40 PS (29 kW) 95 km/h (59 mph)
W21 / W235 / W35 1933–1936 straight-6 1690 cc 35 PS (25,7 kW) 95 km/h (59 mph)
Wanderer W23S 1937–1939 straight-6 2651 cc 62 PS 90 km/h (56 mph)
W22 / W240 / W40 1933–1938 straight-6 1950 cc 40 PS (29 kW) 100 km/h (62 mph)
W245 / W250 1935 straight-6 2257 cc 50 PS (37 kW) 100 km/h (62 mph) - 105 km/h (65 mph)
W45 / W50 / Spezial W51 1936–1938 straight-6 2257 cc 55 PS (40 kW) 100 km/h (62 mph) - 105 km/h (65 mph)
W25K 1936–1938 straight-6 1950 cc 85 PS (62,5 kW) 145 km/h (90 mph)
W52 1937 straight-6 2651 cc 62 PS (45,6 kW) 115 km/h (71 mph)
W24 1937–1940 straight-4 1767 cc 42 PS (30,9 kW) 105 km/h (65 mph)
W26 1937–1940 straight-6 2651 cc 62 PS (45,6 kW) 115 km/h (71 mph)
W23 1937–1941 straight-6 2651 cc 62 PS (45,6 kW) 105 km/h (65 mph)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Christine O’Keeffe : ''Concentration Camps''". Tartanplace.com. Retrieved 2010-10-02.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wanderer vehicles.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wanderer motorcycles.


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