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The DKW Typ 4=8 is a small rear-wheel drive two-stroke V4 engined car produced at the company’s Spandau plant by DKW (part of the Auto Union).〔Oswald, p 87〕 It was launched at the Berlin Motor-show in 1929 as a successor to the DKW Typ P built at the same factory, although the DKW Typ P 4=8 was significantly larger than the Typ P: in terms of market positioning a more direct successor to the DKW Type P was probably the DKW F1 produced in Zwickau from 1931. Initially, in 1929, very few Typ 4=8s were produced, but volumes built up as the DKW Typ P and its sporting derivative was phased out, and between 1929 and 1940 approximately 24,000 Typ 4=8s were manufactured.〔Oswald, p 86〕 The figure is dwarfed by the approximately 218,000 smaller DKW F1 and its successors produced at Zwickau between 1931 and 1942, and in retrospect the Typ 4=8 tends to be overlooked when compared to its front wheel drive sibling; but it was nevertheless in the 1930s a significant participant in the growing German auto-market. The DKW Typ 4=8 underwent several name changes and step by step modifications before production ended, in 1940, of what was by now the 1054cc DKW Sonderklasse, but the V4 two stroke engine and market positioning remained consistent throughout. == Names == The name “4=8” was used for several versions of the car between 1929 and 1932 and was based on the way that on a two stroke engine every descent of the piston within the cylinder is driven by an explosion inside the cylinder, whereas in a four stroke engine only one in two of the cylinder’s descents within the cylinder is driven by an explosion ( the alternate down strokes involving merely the induction - sucking in - of a combustible mixture of fuel and air). The case made by the “4=8” name was that accordingly a two stroke engine worked twice as hard as a four stroke engine, and the little 4 cylinder DKW was comparable, in terms of engine effort, with an 8 cylinder powered car from an automobile manufacture fitting four stroke engines. The name “Sonderklasse” which the car used between 1932 and 1934 does not translate comfortably into English, but one translation of “Sonder” is “special” and one translation of “Klasse” is class. The name “Sonderklasse” became associated with unfortunate publicity involving car body failures and the car was renamed in 1934, but returned as the “Sonderklasse” in 1937. The name “Schwebeklasse” which was used for models produced between 1934 and 1937 apparently referred to the cars “floating” axel, a component of the suspension system which was advertised as providing superior handling. (“Schweben” is a German verb for “to float”.) 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「DKW Typ 4=8」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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