DKW-750 - A smarter smart car.

Urgent incoming news now from our bureau in 1960. Mercedes used to make "economy cars"! Yes, they technically own the Smart brand today . Yes, the Smart is a small car, but it's hardly an "economy" model. You can spend less for more car elsewhere. In addition, the Smart series of cars keeps getting terrible reviews for the drive train (engine and transmission). This makes it hard to justify the asking price of the Smart.

But back in 1960, there was the DKW-750 existed. See?

It had interesting features like a two-stroke engine and inboard brakes, a setup in which the (fairly heavy) braking components are mounted along the center line of the chassis and are connected to the wheels via the axle. This moves weight off of the wheel and makes the car handle better, because the wheels can respond to the road more quickly due to less weight bouncing up and down with the wheel. It's what they call "reducing unsprung weight", and It's still something you pretty much only find on supercars. Few current mass market cars have this feature. None, that I know of, at least.

The DKW-750 was a typically poetic German name for a car, and it sold for $1665, which is $13,389 in today's money. Compare that to the Smart, which can be found new for maybe $17,000 but more typically hovers near 20 kilobucks. I'll take the DKW, thanks.

Know what? I'll take it even more if it had enough wheels! Did someone ask for a DKW halftrack sort of thing? No? Well here one is! Get your unhöflich finger ready to right click this little beauty onto your hard drive. Bitte, baby!

Click for big.