Wartburg 311/312

Wartburg 311/312

The Wartburg was product of the Eisenacher Motorenwerke, one of the pre-war BMW factories, that found itself back in the DDR after 1949. Car production resumed with the construction of replica pre-war BMWs, sold as EMW, before switching to the IFAs that was scheduled to be the new 3 cylinder DKW. The Wartburg 311 appeared in 1956 and was fitted with a 900 cc 3-cylinder 2-stroke engine, which produced 37 bhp. The Wartburg was 4-door saloon, but could also be had a five door combi with rear side windows raking into the roof. All seats/benches could be folded to allow use as a full sized bed. This version was designed by the Karrosserie Werke Dresden, better known as Glaser, before the war.

In 1962 the 212 appeared, with a bit more chrome and a large 991 cc engine now producing 45 bhp, and 50 in a sportier version. Production lasted until 1966 when the boxy 353 version appeared. 292,723 of all models were produced. Shown is a 312 at the Concours d’Elegance at the Loo in 2004.

those cars are still driving in the former-DDR. usually full wih rust, hese litlle cars are still on the road in fairly big numbers !

Wow...another forgotten marque...great thread henk

after a small discussion with my dad about it, it seems tht i have had a ride in it in 1992 in Eisenach itself :) They were still used as a taxi :D I have also been to the old factory. There still is one last Wartburg on the parking lot, now all dirty.it is partly completed. The factory is quite ruined.All windows are smashed, steel stuff is rusty. The machines and desks and everything is still there. I will try and find the pictures i took there and scan them. if you are ever near Eisenach, dont miss the museum and factory.Also the Wartburg is very nice :D dont miss it !!!

the later version of the wartburg used to be popular over here

wartburgs were made until middle 90's

Here are some images taken during recent Nürnberg trade fair. A special vesion, a four seat cabrio, is featured. I remeber two-seaters quite well, but I have never seen any four-seater before this event

The rest of images...

Could you provide authentic engine specifications about the Wartburg 353, 311 and 313 models?
Thank you!

Hey lads, has been a long time (again).
The 311 - 313 models used the same 900cc 3cyl two-stroke engines but with varying power. The brad and butter models had about 37-40hp, the 313-Sport (east german SL300 if you will, since it looks a bit like they shrinked one to make it) had ~50 (how much varies in the specs I've found, some report it's 55, but I'm not sure).
The 353 had a bigger engine (1000cc) and therefore produced a bit more power (55hp). Interestingly enough, a few of the old rallye models have survived which are of course sought after rarities now, having 100+hp out of a 1300c 2-stroke.

I really love to get a 311 Camping (the estate version of the older Wartburg). The problem is that 1) a rust-free car costs A LOT, and 2) if it's rusty and/or has any other issues, it's nearly impossible to find parts, which makes it really expensive to get running. When they work, though, they won't break down that fast. Even if the way they positioned the radiato makes no sense, the car doesn't really break down (unless you drive it like a hoon, which I don't expect from a person that deliberately bought a sub- 50 hp car).

Thank you for the specs. The only problem is I have found different datas about the 353 for example. According that source it says the 353 model had 992 ccm, 45 HP engine. So, which one is the right? This is my problem. I need the good specs of the first models of these cars.

Very cool, where are you guys based out of?