Details of Cars

DKW NZ: the last Zschopau DKW before the war

DKW

1939 DKW NZ 350
1939 DKW NZ 350 in the museum mobile, Ingolstadt. Photo by Lothar Spurzem, CC BY-SA 2.0 de via Wikimedia Commons.

The DKW NZ was the last motorcycle series DKW built at its home works in Zschopau. Developed in 1936 but held back for two years while the SB models kept selling, it went into production in 1938 in three engine sizes. The NZ 500 was the biggest of them: a twin with 18.5 PS and, for the first time on a DKW, a sprung rear wheel.

DKW NZ at a glance

DKW NZ key facts
Maker Auto Union AG, Zschopau
Series introduced 1938
Predecessor DKW SB series
Models NZ 250, NZ 350, NZ 500
Top model NZ 500, two-cylinder two-stroke
NZ 500 engine 494 cc, 18.5 PS
NZ 500 gearbox four-speed, combined hand and foot shift
Frame pressed steel, welded all round instead of bolted
New feature adjustable rear suspension, a first for a DKW motorcycle
End of the line the last DKW series from the Zschopau works

History of the DKW NZ

Ready in 1936, built from 1938

The NZ range was a new design by Auto Union and was ready for production in autumn 1936. Sales of the SB series were still high and even rising, so the NZ waited about two years before it replaced them. By then the shadow of the coming war was already over the project: the NZ range turned out to be the last in the history of the Zschopau works.

DKW NZ 350-1 military motorcycle
DKW NZ 350-1 of 1945 in the August Horch Museum. Photo by Rainerhaufe, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The frame

All NZ models used the same frame. Where the pressed-steel halves of the SB frames had been bolted together, on the NZ they were welded all round, and other frame joints were welded too. The welding drew so much current that it could only be done at night, when the local supply had capacity to spare. The 500 also had its engine mounting changed and, most importantly, received the first rear suspension ever fitted to a DKW motorcycle. The front fork had closed sliders with outboard rockers and, besides a coil spring, hydraulic damping.

The NZ 500

The largest model had a 494 cc two-cylinder two-stroke with 18.5 PS, a four-speed gearbox in a unit with the engine, and a primary chain instead of the earlier spur gears. It could be ordered with a combined hand-and-foot shift. Auto Union’s 1939 sales brochure called it ‘the motorcycle for the highest demands … smooth as a four-cylinder four-stroke’, and listed a central box frame suited to a sidecar, the four-speed unit gearbox, a sprung saddle and, as the significant novelty, adjustable rear suspension.

Smaller NZ models

The NZ 250 and NZ 350 shared the frame and the general layout, and the smaller bikes were the ones most often seen with sidecars in civilian use. The series ended with the war; after 1945 the Zschopau works continued under the MZ name instead.

Design and features

  • Welded frame: pressed-steel halves welded all round, a step on from the bolted SB frame.
  • Rear suspension: the first sprung rear wheel on a DKW motorcycle, adjustable and praised in the 1939 brochure.
  • 495 cc twin: 18.5 PS from the largest engine in the NZ range.
  • Unit gearbox: four speeds with combined hand and foot operation and a primary chain drive.
  • Sidecar ready: the central box frame was designed for sidecar use.

DKW NZ versions

  • NZ 250: the smallest of the three capacity classes.
  • NZ 350: the middle model and the best known today, widely used in military service.
  • NZ 500: 494 cc twin with 18.5 PS, the most powerful DKW of its day.

The NZ replaced the DKW SB series; the pre-war DKW RT 125 carried the two-stroke line into the war and beyond. More cars and bikes are in the DKW collection.

Video: DKW NZ 350 1941 model

Video by Rolf S. Ask on YouTube.

Sources

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