CarBrandLogos archive · Wartburg · 1956

Wartburg311

Two strokes, three cylinders, one body shell — and hard currency for East Germany.

Photo: Wikipedian Vladimir Krupka (Czech Wikipedia) · CC BY-SA 3.0

The story

A defining chapter in Wartburg history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Wartburg 311, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Eisenach had built BMWs before the war and, after the division of Germany, continued building them under Soviet control until BMW in Munich objected to the badge. What emerged from the renamed VEB Automobilwerk Eisenach in 1956 was the Wartburg 311, named after the castle on the hill above the town and based on the pre-war DKW engineering that had also produced the IFA F9.

Wartburg 311 · Photo: Andreas Praefcke · CC BY 3.0

Design and engineering

The formula was pure DKW: a 900cc two-stroke three-cylinder engine driving the front wheels through a longitudinal layout, with a separate chassis under a rounded body designed by Hans Fleischer. The two-stroke had only seven moving parts in its bottom end, which made it cheap to build and easy for owners to keep running, and the separate chassis allowed an unusually wide range of bodies for a state-planned factory — saloon, estate, pickup, a coupe and even a roadster.

Wartburg 313 Sport-Cabriolet r · Stahlkocher · CC BY-SA 3.0

In production

In a planned economy the 311 served two masters. At home, where waiting lists ran for years, it was a comparatively spacious and comfortable car, roomier than the Trabant and better regarded. Abroad, it was exported to Western Europe and beyond specifically to earn foreign currency, sold in Britain and elsewhere at prices that undercut local rivals even if the smoky exhaust and three-cylinder note gave it away at a distance.

Wartburg-311-5-Camping-Limousine · Klaus Nahr from Germany · CC BY-SA 2.0

Legacy

The engine grew to 992cc in 1962, and 288,535 cars were built before the 353 replaced the design in 1965 with a modern square body over much the same mechanicals. That continuity is the point: the underpinnings of a 1930s DKW went on serving East German drivers for more than half a century.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1956–1965

Units built

288,535

Engine

0.9L (901&nbsp

Designer

Hans Fleischer

Technical specification

The 311, in detail.

Production: 311: 1956–1965; 288,535 produced ; 312: 1965–1967
Body style: 4-door Sedan (automobile); sedan ; 3/5-door Station wagon; estate ; 2-door pickup truck ; 2-door coupé ; 2-door Roadster (automobile); roadster
Layout: Longitudinal FF layout
Engine: 0.9L (901 cc) Two-stroke engine; two-stroke Straight-three engine; I3 (1956–1962) ; 1.0L (992 cc) two-stroke I3 (1962–1967)
Transmission: 3-speed manual (1956–1957); 4-speed manual (1958–1967)
Designer: Hans Fleischer
Assembly: East Germany: Eisenach
Manufacturer: VEB Automobilwerk Eisenach