Wartburg 353


The Wartburg 353, known in some export markets as the Wartburg Knight, is a medium-sized family car, produced by the East German car manufacturer AWE for their Wartburg brand. It was the successor of the Wartburg 311, and was itself succeeded by the Wartburg 1.3.
The Wartburg 353 was produced from 1966 to 1988, becoming the Wartburg with the longest production run. During its lifetime it saw several changes and improvements, the most recognizable of these coming in 1985 with a front facelift, slightly different layout around the engine block and a new carburettor.
The Wartburg 353 was the creation of the former German BMW production facilities. It was developed from a 1938 DKW design, and powered by an engine with only seven major moving parts, crankshaft included. This led to a common aphorism among Wartburg owners that "one simply drives a car, but must only maintain a motorcycle".
Domestically, it was used for all types of government transportation, sometimes as a police car. However, due to the nature of the planned economy, deliveries to private owners could take ten to fifteen years.
Like other Eastern European cars, it was known for its low price. Because of its forward centre of gravity and front-wheel drive, the car had typical front-wheel-drive road handling, usually displaying significant understeer, especially in wet conditions.
Wartburgs were exported to most European markets and South Africa.

Engine and transmission

The Wartburg 353 was powered by a 1-litre displacement, 3-cylinder unit that took almost two decades to refine. While developing about its two-stroke engine design provided more than 100 N⋅m of torque. Typical figure for quite larger four-stroke engine at that time. The transmission was equipped with a freewheel, obviating the need to use the clutch between gears. The gear stick was on the steering column. Designed as a fuel efficiency measure and as means of protecting the engine from oil starvation, the device disabled engine braking; the car was able to coast whenever the throttle was released. Drivers had the option of turning the freewheel off through a switch under the steering column to benefit from engine braking. Useful since the front brakes were prone to overheating and fading. However, most drivers never disabled the freewheel, because it made shifting gears significantly easier and smoother, though not quicker.
Today the 353s are customized for reaching speeds well about 200 km/h, whereas the original design called for critical speed of 150–155 km/h and 12 seconds to accelerate to 100 km/h, which was dealt with in second gear due to the high-rev engine. It was available both with four- and five-speed transmissions, although the latter was very rare.

Popularity

The 353 was a reasonable success throughout the Eastern bloc, with front-wheel drive. The negatives were all due to its outmoded two-stroke engine. In Western European markets the outdated Wartburg was less competitive, especially as the two-stroke engine design gradually stopped being used in passenger cars. The quality and reliability were both problematic; while the low price militated against owners taking care of the car. Resale values were exceedingly low and in Finland, official numbers on removals from the automobile registry gave Wartburg the shortest average life span of any maker listed, at nine years and three months.
The Wartburg 353 was commonly nicknamed "Trustworthy Hans" or "Farty Hans" by owners due to its durability and copious exhaust emissions, especially when cold and/or overoiled. Noteworthy characteristics of the model are: simple design, dependability, occasional and cheap maintenance, strong chassis-based car frame, front-wheel drive, rear wheel ABS regulator, a 525-litre trunk, innovative electronic gauges fitted after 1983. Disadvantages in terms of passengers' comfort are well known too: lack of any sound dampers led to significant engine feedback in the coupe which itself was in turn very boomy and reverberating, leading to another nickname, "The barrel". This left very few Wartburgs equipped with stereo because it was not possible to enjoy that at volumes most people do, over the engine noise. Suspension provided for sensibly different handling and comfort when the car was empty over when it was carrying passengers and luggage. Owners' accounts are that both control and smoothness went better the more the car was loaded.
It was also available as a pickup version named Wartburg 353 Trans, but was not very successful, mainly due to limited payload and low volume of transport. It was mainly used for small deliveries. This car was only sold in export, as it would have been useful mostly to the kinds of private business endeavors that were illegal in East Germany.
Wartburg owners' clubs exist throughout Europe and some Wartburgs are still used as rally racing cars.

Production

Over a million Wartburg 353s were produced overall.
Production figures :
The transition model Wartburg 312 with the body of the Wartburg 311 and the frame of the later Wartburg 353 was on September 1, 1965. the VIN introduced 65,533. From June 1, 1966, vehicles from VIN 1:30 001 received the new body, associated with a change in the type designation of "1000" to "353". A new transmission received since July 1, 1966 all vehicles from chassis number 001 02:14. The car entered the British market as the Wartburg Knight in early 1967, and a year later the estate "Tourist" model followed.
The introduction of the hatchback Wartburg Tourist with the VEB Karosseriewerke Halle made body was carried in 1968. tailgate and rear fenders were made of glass fiber reinforced plastic manufactured. First, the Tourist was manufactured with a smooth C-pillar, in 1970 a forced ventilation system with air outlets in the C-pillar was introduced.
From chassis number 04.10 474, on 6 May 1969, the new Type 353-1 engine with was introduced. In 1970 round instruments replaced the earlier "bathroom scale" type, and in 1972 bucket seats replaced the earlier types. Also in 1972, an optional floor shifter was introduced, but it did not function very well and saw limited sales. and Since 3 March 3, 1975 the vehicle became the Wartburg 353 W. First shown in 1974, the 353 W received front disc brakes and many other safety changes such as rollbelts, a collapsible steering column, and dual circuit hydraulic brakes. The body remained unchanged.
From chassis number 17:20 932, on vehicles produced after 14 June 1982, the carburetor was switched to a Jikov 32 Sedr with pre-heated intake mixture, new brake drums rear and H4 headlights.
From 2 January 1984 the "S" version replaced the "de luxe," produced from chassis number 19:00 401. The model was characterized by matt black PVC door window frames, imitation leather trim and wood grain, trunk liner, fog lights, two-tone horn, heated rear window and a Malimo corduroy interior. In addition, all models which until then had chromed body parts received black plastic powder coated ones. This was both a sign of shortage of raw materials in the East German economy and an attempt to keep up with the prevailing tastes.
As with the DKW, Wartburgs all had the radiator mounted behind the engine. This changed as of 30 June, 1985 as the radiator was moved to the usual position in front of the engine. The front clip was also redesigned and was now a one-piece body-coloured unit incorporating the grille opening. The previous bulged rectangle-shaped headlights were replaced with rectangular, slightly swept back units.

Replacements

The Wartburg engineers developed several four-stroke versions, none of which were accepted for series production. In 1972 a four-stroke inline-four of 1.6 litres producing was developed, but the political leadership cancelled the project in favor of a facelift. A slack in demand abroad was compensated for by rising demand within East Germany, made possible by wage increases.
In the mid-seventies, a joint project with Škoda and Trabant, led to the development of a Czech-engined design called the 610M. The plug was pulled on this project as the oil crisis had made it impossible to invest in the new plants that would be required. In 1978 the Wartburg 1300, equipped with a Renault engine, was designed. Only four were built, with three-dour coupé bodywork. In the early eighties, as two-strokes were becoming harder and harder to sell, the technical team developed a four-stroke version of the 993 cc three-cylinder unit. In spite of good performance in tests, this too remained stillborn. It wasn't until 1984, when the license for producing Volkswagen's 1272 cc inline-four was gained that Wartburg had their chance. Deliveries of the Wartburg 1.3 finally begun in October 1988, much too late to help AWE survive the reunification.

Competition

The 353 was campaigned extensively, mostly as a rally car. For instance, a 353 driven by Niebergall and Froman finished tenth overall in the 1976 Acropolis Rally. Its best world championship rallying result was a second place in the 1973 Polish Rally, three hours behind the winner. Only one more car reached the finish. The 353's last World Rally Championship result was at the 1993 1000 Lakes Rally, where Alpo Saastamoinen finished 53rd overall and fifth in class.

Model range

Ambulance

MED-ambulance emergency vehicle of the Red Cross of the GDR in the field of rapid medical aid, the urgent medical aid and the urgent house call service with a total of 100 vehicles, of which four are in the service of the National People's Army

Melkus

a sports car from Melkus developed from the Wartburg 353.

Gallery

Specifications: Wartburg 353 Kraftfahrzeug Technik, Heft 7/66 http://www.die-besten.de/wartburg/tests/353/353-66/353-66.htm

Serbian punk rock band Atheist Rap dedicated a song to Wartburg 353 on their debut album 'Maori i Crni Gonzales' from 1993, titled 'Wartburg Limuzina', which reflects on the car's characteristics in a humorous but positive way. The song spawned a sequel on their second album 'Ja Eventualno Bih Ako Njega Eliminišete' from 1996, titled 'Car Core', about tuning a Wartburg, also in a humorous way. Both songs were made into music videos and remain among their greatest hits to this day.