Dkw · 1928–1933

DKW Typ P

The DKW Typ P was the first motor car made by DKW. It was a light-weight design with a unit body made of wood and imitation leather. It was powered by a two stroke inline twin engine.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Successor: DKW Typ 4=8

All Dkw Typ P data: UK builds, safety, recalls, model years →

Origins

The first Type P was ready on 7 May 1928. The model was developed by Rudolf Slaby, the former owner of the Spandau based automaker Slaby-Beringer which DKW had purchased in 1924.

The Typ P Roadster / Cabriolet 1928 - 1931

The original Typ P was made from 1928 to 1931 and was available as a convertible or a roadster. The engine produced 15 metric horsepower (11 kW) and the car was referred to as the DKW P15 as a result. Power was transmitted via a three speed manual gear box to the rear wheels. Even at this stage the mechanically operated foot brake worked on all four wheels: the handbrake operated on the front leftside wheel and on the rear rightside wheel.

The Typ PS 600-Sport 1929 - 1933

A reduced wheelbase sports roadster derivative, the PS 600, with an engine producing 18 metric horsepower (13 kW), was made from December 1929 till 1933. The contrast between the relatively long bonnet/hood and the small two cylinder engine hiding underneath it was excessive, but the car was visually appealing, being sportingly proportioned with a tapered "boat-deck" rear reminiscent of the racing cars of the time.

Commercial

The car drew criticism. Experts remarked on its primitive look and the "uncultivated" noise from the two-stroke engine. The "two-stroke" fuel mixture of gasoline/petrol with oil was expensive, and the Type P used a lot of it. It had a prodigious appetite for spark plugs. A relatively short operating life was anticipated also on account of the poor quality of the synthetic leather that coated the timber body frame: it rotted. Astonishingly, with 5,228 produced, DKW's first car nevertheless found many customers. DKW was by this time Germany's leading motorbike producer: most buyers of the first DKW car were upgrading from motorbikes, and were accordingly already inured to the peculiarities of the two-stroke engine. In 1929, only a few delivery vehicles with a payload of 400 to 500 kg were produced.

Succession

After production of the Typ P Roadster/Cabriolet came to an end, its place on the Spandau production line was taken by the Typ PS-600 Sport, while a class up the plant concentrated increasingly on the 988cc Typ 4=8. In terms of market positioning, the real successor of the original Typ P was the DKW F1, the innovative front wheel drive model launched in February 1931 and produced 300 km (190 miles) to the south at the Zwickau plant acquired in 1928 with the purchase of Audi.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.

Specifications

name: DKW Typ P (1928-1931), DKW Typ PS 600-Sport (1929 - 1933)
Manufacturer: DKW
aka: DKW P15
Production: Typ P: 1928–1931 4,728 units , PS 600: 1929–1933 500 units
Assembly: Spandau (Berlin), Germany
Class: City Car
Body style: Convertible, Roadster
Layout: FMR layout
Engine: 584 cc two stroke inline twin
Transmission: 3-speed manual
Wheelbase: Typ P: 2590 mm, PS 600: 2400 mm
Length: Typ P: 3600 mm, PS 600: 3700 mm
Width: Typ P: 1350 mm, PS 600: 1330 mm
Height: Typ P: 1600 mm, 2-seaters , Typ P: 1700 mm , 3- and 4-seaters , PS 600: 1200 mm
Designer: Rudolf Slaby
sp: uk

Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Check the linked sources for citations.

More photos

Sources

Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1154462CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DKW_Typ_PCC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1304366511 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1928_DKW_P15_Roadster_(2499590346).jpgCC BY 2.0 · Photo: Don O'Brien from Piketon, Ohio, United States · retrieved 2026-10-01
Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.