Wartburg Pickup

[Guest Pitter]

This is a daily driver in Cali, Colombia. The owner works in a paint shop I sometimes frequent. I've tried to reserch it on the net and believe it was of East German manufacture.

Although I've researched Wartburg online I've never come accross the pick up version. It is yet another example of the strange and interesting automotive history of Colombia. I gather Wartburgs were front wheel drive but I'm sort of puzzled by the enormous front hub. Note the rock behind the wheel to keep the vehicle from rolling. It's a land where there's not much confidence in engine compression.

Edited June 18, 2012 by Pitter (see edit history)

[checker]

Yes Wartburg was East German. I'm a member of a Yahoo forum that discusses East German cars. I just posted your photo for comment. I'll let you know what is said.

Doug

[Dave@Moon]

Wartburgs have a free-wheeling device that eliminates engine braking. I think that explains the rock!

This is a Wartburg 311 model (1956-1965m but only imported to the U.S. in the early 1960s). It came as a pickup, wagon, sedan, coupe or roadster.

Edited June 18, 2012 by Dave@Moon (see edit history)

[Guest Pitter]

Checker thanks. I'm looking forward to what is said. Dave Moon You mean the same free wheeling feature that 3 cyl Saabs had? Must have been different though because Saabs never had that huge hub.

[checker]

The free wheeling feature Dave mentioned was for when you took your foot of the gas the engine would not put a load (slow down) on the car. Nice for going down steep hills.

Doug

[Guest Pitter]

I owned a '65 Saab so I'm quite familiar with that "free wheel" feature. Fortunately you could lock it out for the steep downhill runs.

[RU22]

You get very little ''engine braking" on a 2-stroke and Zero bottom end lube unless the engine has oil injection....... so running down a long hill without free wheeling engine life wound suffer

[smithbrother]

That's got to be the WORLD'S SMALLEST HOOD SCOOP.

Dale in Indy

[checker]

RU22; oh yeah, I forgot about not using the 2 stroke engines to brake. As you pointed out there is no lube.

Dale, the hood scoop looks like a hood tach mounted backwards. :-)

From the East German Forum- There was a 353 pickup version called the Wartburg Trans; this appears to be a 311/312 pickup version.

[pepcak]

Guys, when I was a child our family had this Wartburg. I do not think they came out as pick-up from factory and I also think the front axle here is not original. While it had described freewheeling device, the hub was never that massive. Nice execution was two seat roadster or sport coupe with 50 HP engine.

WARTBURG 311, 1000 - technika

Wartburg 311 [KRUPKA.EU]

Sorry, the pages are in Czech only.

[checker]

From the Yahoo forum, a guy in UK wroke

“There were pickup versions of both the 311 and 312 (model designations 311/7 and 312/7), and I’m aware of two body styles which were the Pritsche (standard pickup) and the Schnelltransportwagon. The former having its rear section looking like the estate/van with the top removed, and the later having a more boxy back end on it. There were nearly 5000 311/7 and around 500 312/7 pickups made.

However, the one in the picture doesn’t look like either of the pickup types that I know off, and I suspect it’s a “bitsa”. Looking at it the car it is riding too high, the front hubs are certainly not Wartburg, and I suspect the rears aren’t either. There’s a further clue in the air intake that has been grafted on to the bonnet. My guess is that someone has dropped a cut about Wartburg body on to a chassis from a 4WD car.”

[Guest Pitter]

Very interesting Checker, thank you. I wish I'd snapped a shot of the interior especially of any gearshift levers. I've always been puzzled by the front hubs.