NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

DKW love an early sign of Audi-ction

NZ Herald
21 Jun, 2014 05:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The DKW 3=6 is named after its 3-cylinder, two-stroke engine. Pictures / Jacqui Madelin

The DKW 3=6 is named after its 3-cylinder, two-stroke engine. Pictures / Jacqui Madelin

Jacqui Madelin meets two owners of classic German cars from the '50s

It was easy to find John Farmer -- there's no missing his 1958 DKW 3=6 parked on the verge. It's a quirky little car, one of three DKWs he owns -- I've already met his 1967 DKW Munga 4x4 restoration project.

The DKW 3=6 was also known as the Sonderklasse. Photo / Jacqui Madelin
The DKW 3=6 was also known as the Sonderklasse. Photo / Jacqui Madelin
The DKW 3=6 was also known as the Sonderklasse. Photo / Jacqui Madelin
The DKW 3=6 was also known as the Sonderklasse. Photo / Jacqui Madelin
The DKW 3=6 was also known as the Sonderklasse. Photo / Jacqui Madelin
The DKW 3=6 was also known as the Sonderklasse. Photo / Jacqui Madelin
The DKW 3=6 was also known as the Sonderklasse. Photo / Jacqui Madelin
The DKW 3=6 was also known as the Sonderklasse. Photo / Jacqui Madelin
The DKW 3=6 was also known as the Sonderklasse. Photo / Jacqui Madelin
The DKW 3=6 was also known as the Sonderklasse. Photo / Jacqui Madelin
The DKW 3=6 was also known as the Sonderklasse. Photo / Jacqui Madelin
The DKW 3=6 was also known as the Sonderklasse. Photo / Jacqui Madelin
The DKW 3=6 was also known as the Sonderklasse. Photo / Jacqui Madelin
The DKW 3=6 was also known as the Sonderklasse. Photo / Jacqui Madelin
The DKW 3=6 was also known as the Sonderklasse. Photo / Jacqui Madelin

Image 1 of 15: The DKW 3=6 was also known as the Sonderklasse. Photo / Jacqui Madelin

"Three's enough, if I had another I'd be divorced."

We've barely sat down to chat before the characterful sound of another triple chugs past the window -- it's Dean Salter in his 1960 Auto Union 1000S, the car that replaced John's on German saleyards.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Dean's not an addict, he says. This is his only classic car -- and he's had it 29 years.

How did John get started?

"A friend bought one at uni when drunk. He sobered up and realised he wasn't mechanical, so I paid him the $100 he'd paid..."

The car was a DKW Junior, a front-wheel-drive with the engine in the boot and wasn't going, so he fixed it. Someone he worked with saw him driving it, and had a DKW F102 at home. "He said if I could tow it away I could have it. The clutch and brakes and battery were stuffed. I had it going in a week." John usually does his own mechanicals and Dean did most of the work on his car too, though "a mate painted it, an upholsterer and panel beater got involved, but the rest I did. It took a while, that was in the 1980s and there was no internet."

The cars were three-cylinder two-strokes from 1954 onwards, water-cooled. John's 3=6 has a 900cc engine -- they went to 1000cc in 1959. "They're quite reliable, so they get driven until they're crocks." John does the weekly shop in his car. "I do the cooking," he adds. But other than that he hasn't had it out a lot, though it's been to Hamilton and Whangarei.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Last year I went to the UK and a guy I know there with nine DKWs -- he really has the disease -- he lent me a car, and four of us drove to Ingolstadt [to Audi's factory], about 1300km in two days, on the autobahns at 120km/h. There's not a lot to go wrong ... "

I don't recall seeing many of these cars -- there are only 36 DKWs and Auto Unions currently registered here.

The pair, who have tons of spare parts between them, hope to start a DKW/Auto Union register one day.

By now I'm being tucked into the red leather-clad bench front seat accessed via "suicide" doors -- "You've got to be weird to own one of these," John says as I get settled. "My wife tolerates them. She'd rather I mucked about with old cars than chased women."

Discover more

New Zealand

Another classic for the garage

10 May 05:00 PM
New Zealand

Porsche thoroughbred leads the field

24 May 05:00 PM
New Zealand

Italian made sports car turns up the volume

07 Jun 05:00 PM
New Zealand

Lotus 7 makes for a breathless drive

05 Jul 05:00 PM

The cabin's simple, and very tidy, still with the original two-colour door trim, the original instruments, tiny dash-top rear-view mirror and the now-cracked steering wheel.

The quirky DKW 3=6 wasn't a looker but it epitomised German reliability. The four rings of the badge represent Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer.

The car starts well enough ("You have to give it a little bit of revs.") and it's away. "Right low down they're dead flat but there's a big fat torque band, not like a two-stroke motorbike, which is peaky.

"Top speed is about 130km/h, so you can get a speeding ticket. They have a very tall top gear for the autobahns in Germany. Four speed manual column change, with in theory no synchro first but this has a later gearbox, and there's a button on the right to freewheel, so you can do clutchless gear changes."

It's there because otherwise, with the two-stroke engine, not enough fuel went in if you trailed the throttle heading downhill at speed, and the engine could seize, "so that's how they got around that."

The suspension is all independent. "They were renowned for their good handling, and the two-door ones raced. They had good brakes -- from big drums -- and being two-stroke you could hot them up. Dean's was 50hp [37kW] standard, the racers developed double that." John's car boasts 30kW, to shift 930kg.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Refuelling means calculating how much petrol went in and doing maths to add the right amount of oil. Thirst?

"About 30mpg [9.4l/100km], which for the 1950s was quite good -- a 900cc four-stroke would be gutless, and wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding."

Give these two half a chance and they're off, now talking about old Rileys, Merc design, and finally the four-ring badge, symbolising the merger of Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer, though only Audi remains.

"The Audi people are pretty supportive, though they don't especially like the two-strokes," John says.

"But I like them, they're quirky, so individual."

Bit like John himself, really ...

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

'Serious-to-critical': Crash shuts SH1 in Northland, delays expected

06 Jul 08:48 AM
Crime

'No bad blood': Inmate apologises for shanking prison officer

06 Jul 08:00 AM
Wellington

'Exercise caution': Investigation into Kiwi's death in elephant attack

06 Jul 06:58 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

'Serious-to-critical': Crash shuts SH1 in Northland, delays expected

'Serious-to-critical': Crash shuts SH1 in Northland, delays expected

06 Jul 08:48 AM

Emergency services were called to the scene about 7.45pm.

'No bad blood': Inmate apologises for shanking prison officer

'No bad blood': Inmate apologises for shanking prison officer

06 Jul 08:00 AM
'Exercise caution': Investigation into Kiwi's death in elephant attack

'Exercise caution': Investigation into Kiwi's death in elephant attack

06 Jul 06:58 AM
Police respond to assault at pool: One hospitalised, charges laid

Police respond to assault at pool: One hospitalised, charges laid

06 Jul 06:31 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP