Wanderer (company)
Wanderer-Werke A.G. hood ornament W126
Industry | Automobiles |
---|---|
Fate | merged into Auto Union (only car division) |
Founded | 1896 by Johann Baptist Winklhofer und Richard Adolf Jaenicke |
Defunct | 1945 |
Headquarters | Saxony, Germany |
Wanderer was a German manufacturer of bicycles, motorcycles, automobiles, vans and other machinery. Established as Winklhofer & Jaenicke in 1896 by Johann Baptist Winklhofer und Richard Adolf Jaenicke, the company used the Wanderer brand name from 1911, making civilian automobiles until 1941 and military vehicles until 1945.
History
Winklhofer & Jaenicke, the business that became eventually known for its Wanderer cars, was established in 1896 in Chemnitz. They built motorcycles from 1902 and automobiles from 1903. The Wanderer brand was chosen in 1911 for overseas exports and was soon adopted for domestic sales.
The first two- or three-seater models used four-cylinder 1145 cc and 1220 cc engines. The 1220 cc model lasted until 1925. The first six-cylinder model appeared in 1928. By 1926, when Wanderer introduced a successful Typ 10, the company was making 25 vehicles a day; parts were made at the old plant in Chemnitz and assembled at the 1927 built new site in Siegmar, delivered by rail right to the assembly line. Motorcycle production continued in Chemnitz alone.
During the Great Depression, in 1929, the company owner, Dresdner Bank, sold the motorcycle business to František Janeček, and in 1932 divested the rest of Wanderer. The car division with its Siegmar factory became part of Auto Union together with Horch, Audi and DKW. In this quartet, Horch was positioned as the luxury brand, DKW built cheap two-stroke cars, Audi and Wanderer competed in different segments of mid-priced, technologically advanced small cars (heaviest, 6-cylinder Wanderers reached 1.5 tons dry weight). Wanderers of Nazi period acquired a trademark radiator design, shaped as a heraldic shield.
The next model W17 7/35 PS was propelled by a new 1692 cc OHV four-cylinder engine developed by Ferdinand Porsche. In 1933 the new Audi Front was equipped with the Wanderer W22 engine, a 1950 cc OHV six-cylinder, also a construction of F. Porsche. The top model from 1936 to 1939 was W50, propelled by a 2257 cc six-cylinder engine. From 1937 on there were also sporting fours (W24 and W25) and another six-cylinder model of 2632 cc (W23), propelled by new Flathead engines constructed by Auto Union itself. Wanderer cars were always admired for their high quality and sporting character. During World War II all civilian production was replaced in 1941 with licence-built military vehicles, such as Steyr 1500A light truck. A subcamp of Flossenbürg concentration camp, KZ Siegmar-Schonau, was operated during the war to provide slave labour for the Wanderer vehicle plants. From 1943 on the Auto Union Siegmar plant produced Maybach HL230 V12 engines, used in many heavy tanks of the German Wehrmacht.
The Wanderer Siegmar plant (now Chemnitz) of Auto Union were destroyed in early 1945, closing this chapter in the history of automobiles. Post-war efforts to restore East German auto industry concentrated on Auto Union facilities in Zwickau and Zschopau: Wanderer car production never recovered, with Auto Union relocating to Ingolstadt, West Germany, where the company was rebuilt based using the DKW and ultimately, the Audi brand.
Automobile models
Type | Years | Engine type | Displacement | Engine power | Top speed |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
W1 (5/12 PS) “Puppchen” | 1912–1913 | straight-4 | 1147 cc | 12 PS (8,8 kW) | 70 km/h (43 mph) |
W2 (5/15 PS) “Puppchen” | 1913–1914 | straight-4 | 1222 cc | 15 PS (11 kW) | 70 km/h (43 mph) |
W3 (5/15 PS) “Puppchen” | 1914–1919 | straight-4 | 1286 cc | 15 PS (11 kW) | 70 km/h (43 mph) |
W4 (5/15 PS) “Puppchen” | 1919–1924 | straight-4 | 1306 cc | 17 PS (12,5 kW) | 78 km/h (48 mph) |
W6 (6/18 PS) | 1921–1923 | straight-4 | 1551 cc | 18 PS (13,2 kW) | 80 km/h (50 mph) |
W9 (6/24 PS) | 1923–1925 | straight-4 | 1551 cc | 24 PS (17,6 kW) | 85 km/h (53 mph) |
W8 (5/20 PS) “Puppchen” | 1925–1926 | straight-4 | 1306 cc | 20 PS (14,7 kW) | 78 km/h (48 mph) |
W10/I (6/30 PS) | 1926–1928 | straight-4 | 1551 cc | 30 PS (22 kW) | 85 km/h (53 mph) |
W10/II (8/40 PS) | 1927–1929 | straight-4 | 1940 cc | 40 PS (29 kW) | 95 km/h (59 mph) |
W11 (10/50 PS) | 1928–1930 | straight-6 | 2540 cc | 50 PS (37 kW) | 90 km/h (56 mph) |
W10/IV (6/30 PS) | 1930–1932 | straight-4 | 1563 cc | 30 PS (22 kW) | 85 km/h (53 mph) |
W11 (10/50 PS) | 1930–1933 | straight-6 | 2540 cc | 50 PS (37 kW) | 97 km/h (60 mph) |
W14 (12/65 PS) | 1931–1932 | straight-6 | 2970–2995 cc | 65 PS (48 kW) | 105 km/h (65 mph) |
W15 (6/30 PS) | 1932 | straight-4 | 1563 cc | 30 PS (22 kW) | 85 km/h (53 mph) |
W17 (7/35 PS) | 1932–1933 | straight-6 | 1690 cc | 35 PS (25,7 kW) | 90 km/h (56 mph) |
W20 (8/40 PS) | 1932–1933 | straight-6 | 1950 cc | 40 PS (29 kW) | 95 km/h (59 mph) |
W21 / W235 / W35 | 1933–1936 | straight-6 | 1690 cc | 35 PS (25,7 kW) | 95 km/h (59 mph) |
Wanderer W23S | 1937–1939 | straight-6 | 2651 cc | 62 PS | 90 km/h (56 mph) |
W22 / W240 / W40 | 1933–1938 | straight-6 | 1950 cc | 40 PS (29 kW) | 100 km/h (62 mph) |
W245 / W250 | 1935 | straight-6 | 2257 cc | 50 PS (37 kW) | 100 km/h (62 mph) – 105 km/h (65 mph) |
W45 / W50 / Spezial W51 | 1936–1938 | straight-6 | 2257 cc | 55 PS (40 kW) | 100 km/h (62 mph) – 105 km/h (65 mph) |
W25K | 1936–1938 | straight-6 | 1950 cc | 85 PS (62,5 kW) | 145 km/h (90 mph) |
W52 | 1937 | straight-6 | 2651 cc | 62 PS (45,6 kW) | 115 km/h (71 mph) |
W24 | 1937–1940 | straight-4 | 1767 cc | 42 PS (30,9 kW) | 105 km/h (65 mph) |
W26 | 1937–1940 | straight-6 | 2651 cc | 62 PS (45,6 kW) | 115 km/h (71 mph) |
W23 | 1937–1941 | straight-6 | 2651 cc | 62 PS (45,6 kW) | 105 km/h (65 mph) |
1898 Wanderer-annonce
1911 Wanderer Püppchen
1915 Wanderer W1 Puppchen
1913 Wanderer W2 Puppchen 5-15
1914 Wanderer W2 Puppchen
1913 Wanderer W3 5-12
1904 Wanderer W2 Puppchen 5-15
1911 Wanderer Serbia
1911 Wanderer W 1 Puppchen
1910 Wanderer 3PS
1913 Wanderer W2 Puppchen 5-15
1915 Wanderer 4 pk
1917 Wanderer 2hp 1
1920 Wanderer V 2
1921 Wanderer 4,5 616ccm 12PS
1921 Wanderer 5-15 W4 Puppchen1923 Wanderer W 4 5-15 PS Puppchen
1925 Wanderer W8 Puppchen
1926-30 Wanderer-W10 6-30 PS, 77k
1927 Wanderer W10-I 1
1928 Wanderer W 10 8-40 PS Limousine
1928 Wanderer W11
1928-32 Wanderer W11 10-50 PS
1929 Wanderer W10-IV 6-30PS
1929 Wanderer W11 Feuerwehrfahrzeug 1
1930 Wanderer W10 IV 6-30PS
1931 Wanderer W14 (only 1 built)

19(3)2 Wanderer W15 7-35 ?
1933 Wanderer W 21 Limousine
1934 Wanderer – Auto Union W21 from 1934. 6-cyliner engine, displacement 1 681 cm³, output 35 hp at 3500 1min. Top speed 90 km-h. 4 651 units produced
1934 Wanderer W 22 Cabriolet
1934 Wanderer W 22 Limousine
1934-40 Wanderer 12 AS Mopped
1935 Wanderer W 22 Cabriolet
1936 1911-39 wanderer cz1936 Auto Union Wanderer W25K
1936 Wanderer W 40 Cabriolet
1936 Wanderer W22
1936 Wanderer W24 Tourenwagen
1936 Wanderer w25k
1936 Wanderer W40
1936 Wanderer W51 limo
1936 Wanderer W51 Cabrio
1936-38 Wanderer W45 C2b Cariolet
1937 Wanderer W 24 Limousine 6 Fenster
1937 Wanderer W 25 K Roadster
1937 Wanderer W 52 Cabriolet
1937 Wanderer W24
1938 Wanderer W 23 Cabriolet
1938 Wanderer W 24 Limousine 6 Fenster(windows)
1938 Wanderer W 52 Cabriolet
1938 wanderer W23 cabrio d dac
1938 Wanderer W24
1938 Wanderer W24k
1938 NSU Wanderer
1938-39 Wanderer Stromlinie Spezial
1939 MHV Wanderer W26L
1939 Wanderer W24
1939 Wanderer W26
1939 Wanderer W50 Cabriolet 2-Sitzer
logo1943 Wanderer W 51 der Wehrmacht, Rusland
pictures without date:
That’s it
Just like to say great feature on Wanderer Cars & Bikes I have a 1938 Wanderer auto cycle myself and was trying to find information on it . I will send you a photo of it when I get a chance to take one . Sachs engine with 98 cc engine I am in Ireland perhaps you could send me a request for Facebook Friend if you wish Bye for now Talk again .Take care Billy
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I like the Wanderer brand and i really appreciate the very thorough foto documentation on your website.
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