IFA F9 - 56

The IFA F9 was a compact saloon manufactured under the

auspices of the Russian and East German states between

1949 or 1950 and 1956. It was initially built at Zwickau at

the plant previously owned by Auto Union. In 1953

production was transferred to the former BMW

manufacturing plant at Eisenach where its underpinnings

subsequently found their way into the Wartburg 311.

Origins

Mechanically the F9 derived from the DKW F8 which had been available between 1939 and  1942. The body closely followed the design of the DKW F9, a prototype with which Auto  Union would have replaced the F8 on the Zwickau production lines earlier, had the war not  intervened. After the war, the first car assembled at Zwickau was the prewar DKW F8, but  the more modern F9 started to appear in 1949 or 1950 (sources differ). Materials shortages  probably delayed introduction in both German states, but the eastern car beat the western  to the market, and certainly featured the three-cylinder motor from the 1938 F9 prototype  (rather than the two-cylinder motor that had been in serial production in 1942) at least three years before Auto Union in Düsseldorf were installing it in their F91. 

The bodies

Surviving F9s appear largely restricted to saloon versions, but various sports and cabriolet  versions were also produced. Steel for consumer industries was in short supply across many  parts of Europe during this period, and the F9’s body construction increasingly involved  plastic panels, especially after production was moved to Eisenach in 1953. The car was  accordingly usefully lighter than its western built Auto Union equivalent. 

Technical

The F9 featured a three-cylinder two-stroke water-cooled engine of 910 cc with a claimed  output, at launch, of 28 bhp (21 kW). The engine was water-cooled, the radiator being  located behind the engine, an unusual configuration but one also found on the DKW F91. The  front wheels were driven via a four-speed manual gear box with a free wheel. 

1956

Engine 900 cc 3 cylinders Power 20 HP Top speed 120 km/h The collection hosts two F9 models. One from 1953 and one 1956.