investigative Tomas Fredriksson

Dampf-Kraft-Wagen (German: steam-driven car) or DKW is a historic car and motorcycle marque. In 1916, the Danish engineerJørgen Skafte Rasmussen founded a factory in Zschopau, Saxony, Germany, to produce steam fittings. In the same year, he attempted to produce a steam-driven car, called the DKW. Although unsuccessful, he made a two-stroke toy engine in 1919, called Des Knaben Wunsch — ”the boy’s desire”. He also put a slightly modified version of this engine into a motorcycle and called it Das Kleine Wunder — ”the little marvel”. This was the real beginning of the DKW brand: by the 1930s, DKW was the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer.

Osmo Kalpala servicing his DKW during the 1956 Rally Finland.