All you need to know about ... WANDERER
Born: 1885 Nationality: German
Johann Winklhofer and Richard Jaenicke set up in business in Chemnitz to repair bicycles. They soon began to build bicycles of their own, called Wanderer, later making vehicles with internal combustion engine power, first motorcycles in 1902 and, after much thought and several one-offs, branched out into building cars in series production.
Their first such, the 'Puppchen' or 'Little Doll', was in 1913. It was a two-seater, powered by a 12hp 4-cylinder engine, and it became immediately popular. So much so that the company found no need to make any major improvements for well over a decade. Still, the 1.6-litre W 6 was produced between 1921-1926, and the W 8 with a 1.3-litre motor and a cabrio top was also produced during this time. A W 9 with the 1.6-litre was debuted in 1924, staying in production until 1929.
In 1926, the Wanderer Type W10 made its debut, powered by the trusty 1.6-litre engine and with 30hp under its bonnet. It was high-tech for the time, featuring a multiple dry-plate clutch, four-wheel brakes and the engine block and gearbox were built in one unit.
Public demand for this car forced the company to build a second factory in Chemnitz. Because Wanderer cars were appreciated for their reliability and quality of build, the company expected to be able to maintain production of a single model for a long time, and recoup the expensive manufacturing costs over a long run. It also went into the manufacture of delivery vans. But the Great Depression made it difficult to sell expensive cars, and even though Wanderer modernised its style and increased engine power in the form of the 50hp six-cylinder W11, it hit the same kind of financial red times that were afflicting many of its peer competitors.
The company sold its motorcycle business - NSU and the Czech Janecek brands bought the equipment and rights to various technologies - and expanded into machine tools and manufacture of office equipment.
These latter were highly profitable operations, and when the automotive side of things began to drag the finances down, the company's largest shareholder, Dresden Bank, decided that the car business should be sold off. So in 1932 the W15 and W17 models were introduced, powered by 1.7-litre engines designed by Ferdinand Porsche, Wanderer was engineered into a merger with Audi, DKW and Horch to form Auto Union.
In 1933, new rear suspension technologies featured on the W 21 and W 22, which were powered by Porsche-designed engines. The success of Auto Union's racing cars helped to keep the four constituent Auto Union marques popular through the rest of the '30s, and by 1938 some five times the number of Wanderer cars were being sold as when the Auto Union merger took place.
Perhaps the most beautiful and classic car of its time was the 1936 Wanderer W 25 roadster with a 6-cylinder supercharged engine. That same year came the W 51, with a body style based very much on American cars of the period.
The 1.8-litre W24 model was the mainstay Wanderer model from 1937 through to 1940. It was produced in a variety of formats, including 2- and 4-door versions, and a cabriolimousine.
A larger car, the W23, was produced between 1937-1939, with a 2.6-litre six-cylinder engine and a power output of 62hp. A military version was also produced, designated the W23S.In 1939, the Wanderer Streamline Special won the team title of the Liege to Rome to Liege Rally, then considered to be the most difficult event of its kind in the world.
However, the second World War brought civilian vehicle manufacture to an end. After the war, under the domination of a Soviet occupying power, the Wanderer name never came back to life.
Best Car: The 1936 W25.
Worst Car: Was never even considered.
Weirdest Car: Some of the W24 cabrios looked very awkward with their tops down.