Wartburg 311

Wartburg 311
Wartburg 311 Limousine
Overview
Manufacturer	VEB Automobilwerk Eisenach
Also called	Wartburg 312 Wartburg 313 Sport
Production	1956 – 1965 288,535 produced
Assembly	VEB Automobilwerk Eisenach, Eisenach, East Germany
Designer	Hans Fleischer
Body and chassis
Body style	4-door sedan 3/5-door estate 2-door pickup truck 2-door coupé 2-door roadster
Layout	FF layout
Powertrain
Engine	901 cc two-stroke I3 (1956-1962) 992 cc two-stroke I3 (1962-1967)
Transmission	3-speed manual (1956-1957) 4-speed manual (1958-1965)
Dimensions
Wheelbase	2,450 mm (96.5 in)
Length	4,300 mm (169.3 in)
Width	1,570 mm (61.8 in)
Height	1,450 mm (57.1 in)
Curb weight	960 kg (2,116 lb)
Chronology
Successor	Wartburg 353

The Wartburg 311 was a car produced by East German car manufacturer VEB Automobilwerk Eisenach from 1956 to 1965. The 311 model was manufactured in a number of variations, including pickup, sedan, limousine, coupé, and as a two-seater roadster. The engine was enlarged to 992 cc in 1962. An interim model featuring the chassis developed for the succeeding 353 was built from 1965 until 1967, it was called the Wartburg 312.

Production of the Wartburg 311 was already underway at Eisenach by the end of 1955. The car was a development of the existing EMW 309. This was the car previously identified as the IFA F9, which itself had been based on the 1940 DKW F9 scheduled for launch in 1940 until war intervened.

The basic architecture of the pre-war design forcibly acquired from Zwickau based Auto Union was retained, albeit with the chassis lengthened by 10 cm which combined with long overhangs to create a larger car, with a relatively spacious four-door sedan/saloon body.

The name "Wartburg" came from the very first model produced at the Automobilwerk Eisenach factory, back in 1898, three decades before that company had been acquired by BMW, and nearly five decades before the plant's location in the Soviet occupation zone placed it under state control. The "311" designation followed the tradition of the plant's previous owner, BMW, whose Eisenach produced passenger cars had all been identified by a three digit number starting with a "3".

The use of a separate chassis facilitated the adaptation of the car to a range of differing body shapes. On the other hand, the use of a separate chassis with the frame rails running under the passenger compartment's floor during a period when automakers elsewhere in Europe were increasingly standardizing on self-supporting car bodies, left the Wartburg approach looking increasingly dated - and also added to the car's height, while "low-long-sleek" was becoming the order of the day in car styling.

The 313-1 was a two-seat roadster (sold as the Wartburg Sport) built from 1957 until 1960. 469 cars were built, of which about a third were exported to the United States. A plethora of other body styles were available, including a rare four-door military utility roadster, coupés, and several station wagon versions.