Wartburg 311: the East German saloon that came in every shape

The Wartburg 311 was the car that put the Eisenach factory back on the roads of Western Europe. Built from 1956 to 1965, it was a development of the pre-war DKW F9 by way of the IFA F9, and it was offered in an unusually wide range of body styles, from a two-seat roadster to a police off-roader.

Wartburg 311 at a glance

Based on one source, the English Wikipedia article on the Wartburg 311; the German article could not be retrieved.

History of the Wartburg 311

Production of the Wartburg 311 was already under way at Eisenach by the end of 1955. The car was a development of the existing EMW 309 — the model previously sold as the IFA F9, which in turn had been based on the DKW F9 scheduled for launch in 1940. The basic pre-war architecture, acquired from Zwickau-based Auto Union, was retained, but the chassis was lengthened by 10 cm, and long overhangs made the four-door saloon larger inside than its dimensions suggested.

The name came from the Wartburgwagen built at the Eisenach works in 1898, three decades before the company was acquired by BMW. The three-digit “311” designation followed the tradition of that former owner, whose Eisenach-built cars all carried a three-digit number beginning with a 3. A separate chassis made it easy to fit many different bodies, but by the late 1950s it also made the car tall and old-fashioned at a time when European makers were moving to self-supporting bodies.

Exports to West Germany began in 1958, and by the early 1960s the 311 was sold in many other countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States; 737 right-hand-drive cars were built between 1961 and 1964. In Argentina the Córdoba firm DINFIA used the 901 cc Wartburg engine in its own small car, renamed Graciela, and from 1962 in a four-door body sold as the Graciela W. The two-stroke engine was enlarged to 992 cc in 1962, and cars with the larger unit are often labelled Wartburg 1000. The 311 was replaced in September 1965 by the interim Wartburg 312.

The 313-1 Sportwagen was a two-seat roadster sold as the Wartburg Sport and built from 1957 until 1960. Of the 469 cars built, about one third went to the United States. A rare four-door military utility roadster, coupés and several estate versions were also available, along with a police Kübelwagen of which 891 were made between 1959 and 1964.

Design and features

• A body for every job: saloon, estate, coupé, cabriolet, pickup, roadster and police off-roader all came from the same chassis.
• Two-seat Sportwagen: the 313-1 of 1957–1960 had a 50 hp engine and found buyers in America.
• Right-hand drive: 737 cars were built for Britain and other right-hand-drive markets between 1961 and 1964.
• Argentinian cousin: the Graciela and Graciela W used the Wartburg engine in locally built bodies.
• Simple engineering: a separate chassis and a two-stroke engine kept the car easy to repair.

Wartburg 311 versions

• 311/0 Standard Limousine: the basic four-door saloon.
• 311/1 Luxus-Limousine: the better-equipped saloon, also sold with a sliding sunroof as the 311/108.
• 311/2 Cabriolet and 311/3 Coupé: two-door open and closed versions from 1956.
• 311/4 Kübelwagen: police off-roader, 891 built from 1959 to 1964.
• 311/5 Camping-Limousine and 311/9 Kombi: five-door and three-door estates.
• 311/7 pickup: two-door commercial version from March 1956.
• 313/1 Sportwagen: the two-seat roadster known as the Wartburg Sport.

The 311 was followed by the short-lived Wartburg 312 and then by the long-running Wartburg 353. More cars from Eisenach are in the Wartburg collection.

Sources

• Wartburg 311, English Wikipedia: history, body styles, variants, exports, Argentina