Melkus · 1969–1979
Melkus RS 1000
The Melkus RS 1000 is a sports car produced by Melkus. It is powered by a tuned, mid-mounted 3-cylinder 2-stroke 992 cm3 engine, similar to the one in the Wartburg 353, and features gull-wing doors. A total of 101 cars were made between 1969 and 1979 in the Dresden factory. To receive permission from the East German leadership to build the cars, Heinz Melkus with the Automobile Racing Commission of the ADMV (East German Motorsport Association) submitted an application to "build a sports car in the German Democratic Republic in honor of the 20th anniversary of the founding of the German Democratic Republic." The car was developed by a working group consisting of representatives of the ADMV, engineers from the Dresden University of Technology, the Dresden School of Transport, technicians from the Eisenach automobile factory and designers from the Berlin-Weißensee School of Art. In 1972, the car was priced at 28,000 East German Mark, with a waiting list of 1.5 years. However, to purchase the car, one would have to provide "proof of racing activity" ("Nachweis einer rennsportartigen Tätigkeit"), which, however, the ADMV issued only in exceptional cases. Connections were also used to acquire the car, so that some vehicles reached the elite of the GDR population.
Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Generations & variants
Photos
Sources
- Wikidata / Wikipedia profiles — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/cars/Q883066CC0 / CC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melkus_RS_1000CC BY-SA 4.0 · Intro text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1370971246 · retrieved 2026-10-03
- Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.