Wanderer was a German manufacturer of bicycles, motorcycles, automobiles, vans and other machinery. Established as Winklhofer & Jaenicke in 1896 by Johann Baptist Winklhofer and Richard Adolf Jaenicke, the company used the Wanderer brand name from 1911, making civilian automobiles until 1941 and military vehicles until 1945.

1924

Winklhofer & Jaenicke was established in 1896 in Chemnitz. Wanderer Werke started life as a German bicycle manufacturer in 1892. It turned its attention to motorcycles in 1902, along with the production of typewriters and calculators. The diverse range of products meant that the German firm had around 6000 employees in its service—a sign of great prosperity at the time.

The first two- or three-seater models used four-cylinder 1145 cc and 1220 cc engines. The 1220 cc model lasted until 1925. The first six-cylinder model appeared in 1928. By 1926, when Wanderer introduced a successful Typ 10, the company was making 25 vehicles a day; parts were made at the old plant in Chemnitz and assembled at the 1927 built new site in Siegmar, delivered by rail right to the assembly line. Motorcycle production continued in Chemnitz alone.

By the time the 1920s came around, the German firm had achieved remarkable successes with its motorcycles, both in sales and in competition. But in 1929, it abandoned the manufacture of motorcycles and sold its designs (including those of its engines) to Jawa of Czechoslovakia, who in turn began selling the bikes under their brand.

Wanderer's marque image was characterized by its extremely reliable cars and by their outstanding manufactured quality. Such excellence had its price, however, and at the end of the 1920s Wanderer attempted to stem the looming crisis with more modern body designs and higher-performance engines. Despite these innovations, production figures slumped. Wanderer's car production operations fell into the red.

During the Great Depression, in 1929, the company owner, Dresdner Bank, sold the motorcycle business to František Janeček, and in 1932 divested the rest of Wanderer. The car division with its Siegmar factory became part of Auto Union together with Horch, Audi and DKW. In this quartet, Horch was positioned as the luxury brand, DKW and Slaby-Beringer built cheap two-stroke cars, and Audi and Wanderer competed in the Middle class and Upper Middle class segments the same way GM's Buick and Oldsmobile divisions were used, technologically advanced small cars (the heaviest, 6-cylinder Wanderers reached 1.5 tons dry weight). Wanderers of the Nazi period acquired a trademark radiator design, shaped as a heraldic shield.

no.2

w1-w8

The Wanderer Puppchen was a small passenger car introduced by the Chemnitz based Wanderer automotive company in 1911. It went on sale the following year. The car was delivered as an open topped tourer with two seats positioned one behind the other. There were two doors, also one behind the other, and both on the left-hand side of the car.

The small car quickly became known, affectionately, as the Puppchen ('little doll'), presumably derived from a 1912 operetta by Jean Gilbert. Nevertheless, its more conventional name was Wanderer W1 5/12 PS. "W1" reflected the fact that it was the first volume motor car offered by the Winklhofer & Jaenicke company who had adopted the brand name Wanderer (English equivalents might be "Rambler" or "Rover") for their motor vehicles in 1911. "5" was the fiscal horsepower rating, based on the engine capacity, and "12" was the actual horsepower claimed. During the ensuing years the Puppchen progressed through the W2, W3 and W4 models to the Wanderer W8, now with an actual claimed power output of 20 PS.

The Wanderer models W5, W6 and W7 were slightly larger cars which did not attract the Puppchen soubriquet.

In 1926 Wanderer withdrew from the 'baby car' market which, as matters turned out, was poorly timed. By the time the Puppchen was withdrawn, in that year, approximately 9,000 of the little cars had been produced.

w10

The Wanderer W10/I 6/30 PS is a car of the lower middle class which was produced by Wanderer-Werke in 1926 as a successor to the W9. It differed from his predecessor by having four-wheel brakes, left hand drive (instead of the previously commonly used right-hand drive), a separate trunk and an uprated engine.

The car had a 4-cylinder OHV front-mounted in-line engine with a displacement of 1.55 litres. The engine developed 30 hp and was mated to a 3-speed transmission. The cars are rear wheels drive. The U-section frame chassis had leaf-sprung rigid axles and the bodies were available as an open touring car or limousine. By 1928, about 6,500 copies were manufactured.

In 1927 a model appeared with a more powerful engine (displacement of 1.94 liters, power output of 40 hp), the W10/II 8/40 PS. In addition to the touring car, the car was also offered as a convertible. Bodies were supplied by Gläser and Reutter. Up until 1929, about 1,500 cars of this design had been made.

In 1932, four independent auto manufacturers came together to form Germany's second-largest automobile manufacturer, named Auto Union. This union between Audi, Horch, Wanderer, and D.K.W. was a merger formed with hopes of riding out Germany's economical problems and surviving this difficult point in history.

Saxony Staatsbank had begun the process with Horch, Audi and D.K.W. Wanderer was the last to come aboard. This union between these four company's was symbolized by the emblems of the four rings, which can still be seen on Audi automobiles today.

The Auto Union had much success during the 1930s with the Grand Prix racing cars. Drivers such as Bernd Rosemeyer, Tazio Nuvolari, and Hans Stuck piloeted the Auto Union vehicles to many victories. Wanderer's main contribution to the Auto Union company was its Porsche-designed inline six-cylinder engine. The design was lightweight and had interchangeable cylinders. It was constructed in various sizes that included 1.7- and 2.3-liters.

The Wanderer Company turned to Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche GmbH to design a sports car for those individuals seeking a high performance vehicle that was suitable for both competition and street use. Porsche had experience with forced induction with his work at Mercedes-Benz. Using the two-liter Wanderer engine and adding a supercharger, he produced an engine that offered identical power to the BMW 328, but with a far simpler valve train.

The new sports model was dubbed the W25 K for Kompressor. 

w21 / w235 / w35

The Wanderer W21 was a middle-class six-cylinder sedan introduced by Auto Union's Wanderer company in 1933. The W21 replaced the Wanderer W17, from which it inherited its ohv engine. The car shared its chassis with the more powerful Wanderer W22, but its engine was smaller.

Two years after introduction, in 1935, the car was renamed as the Wanderer W235, and in 1936 it was renamed again as the Wanderer W35. The engine and principal mechanical components remained very little changed throughout, however, as did the wheelbase and other principal chassis measurements. The car therefore was, and generally still is, regarded as a single model despite the name changes.

The car was powered by a six-cylinder four-stroke ohv engine of 1690 cc driving the rear wheels via a four-speed gear box. Claimed maximum power output was 35 PS, supporting a top speed of 95 km/h.

Initially the compact-six-engined Wanderer was offered as a four-door saloon and as a two-door cabriolet. The 1935 name change from W21 to W235 coincided with the withdrawal of the cabriolet version and the introduction of a four-door ‘tourer’. There were no significant changes to the car accompanying the 1936 name change to Wanderer W35.

w25k

The Wanderer W25K is a sports car introduced by Wanderer-Werke in 1936 as a competitor to the BMW 328.

The vehicle had the of Ferdinand Porsche designed 6-cylinder OHV in-line engine from the W40. The engine had a displacement of 1.95 litres and was front mounted. It was fiited with a Roots supercharger and developed 85 hp at 5000 rpm. A 4-speed transmission was mated to the engine, sending it's power to the rear wheels. The car had a floating rear axle with transverse leaf spring and was available as an elegant 2-seater sports cabriolet or roadster.

The supercharged engine was not very reliable and only performed at high speed. This meant that many cars were later converted to hold an Opel 6-cylinder naturally aspirated engine.

Until 1938, 258 cars had been sold.

w24

The Wanderer W24 is a middle market car introduced by Auto Union under the Wanderer brand in 1937. The car was powered by a four-cylinder four-stroke engine of 1767 cc driving the rear wheels via a four-speed gear box. Claimed maximum power output of four cylinder Flathead engine was 42 PS achieved at 3,400 rpm.

The W24’s structural basis was a box frame chassis. At the back it employed a swing axle arrangement copied from the popular small cars produced by sister brand DKW of Auto Union.

At a time when some of the manufacturer’s larger models featured a twelve-volt electrical system, the W24 still made do with a six-volt arrangement. The car was offered as a four-seater saloon with two or four doors. In addition, approximately 300 cabriolet versions were produced. Seventy years later few of these cabriolet version survive: those that do are much prized by collectors.

By 1940 when the increasing intensity of the war enforced an end to passenger car production, approximately 23,000 Wanderer W24s had been produced.

w25 roadster  stromlinie

To complete in the Liège-Rome-Liège, Wanderer constructed three streamlined racers, early examples of streamlining a production car chassis. In 1939 three aluminum-bodied W-25 Streamliners left the assembly line, combining Wanderer’s W-24 chassis; the DKW schwebeklasse’s (floating axle; the axle was suspended from a high-level laterally-mounted leaf spring.)

Powering the cars was a Ferdinand Porsche designed, 1950cc straight-6 with three carburetors, which saw duty in the production W-25K. The engine produced an estimated 70 bhp at 4,500 rpm. Top speed? A stout 160 km/h, more than 52 km/h  faster than the W-24.

The completed Streamliners measured 4.35 meters long, 1.65 meters wide and 1.28 meters high. Weight? Just 900 kilograms, 220 kilograms less than the W-24 road car.

The Streamliners would only race only twice, in 1938 and 1939. In 1938, none of the three cars finished. They returned in 1939 and two of the three tied for a 4th place finish and the 3rd entry finished 12th.  As a result, Auto Union landed the Cup of Constructors for the best team performance.

Looming on the horizon, though, was the Second World War. When the dust settled, it is not known what happened to the racers. Many great works of automotive history from that period met their demise including, the three W-25 Streamliners. In the late 1990s,  however, a chassis and axle turned up.

1945

 Wanderer cars were always admired for their high quality and sporting character. In 1941 all civilian production was replaced with military vehicles. A subcamp of Flossenbürg concentration camp, KZ Siegmar-Schonau, was operated during the war to provide slave labour for the Wanderer vehicle plants.

During World War II, all civilian production was replaced in 1941 with licence-built military vehicles, such as Steyr 1500A light truck.  From 1943 on the Auto Union Siegmar plant produced Maybach HL230 V12 engines, used in many heavy tanks of the German Wehrmacht.

The Siegmar and Schönau plants in Saxony were destroyed during World War II, closing this chapter in the history of automobiles. Post-war efforts to restore East German auto industry concentrated on Auto-Union facilities in Zwickau and Zschopau: Wanderer plants never recovered. Wanderer managers migrated to West Germany, being instrumental in the recovery of DKW.