1938 Wanderer W25K Cabriolet

Audi, Horch, DKW, and Wanderer coalesced to form Auto Union in 1932 and established in 1936 in Chemnitz, Saxony, during the Great Depression. The company would later become known as Audi. Auto union and their Silver Arrows were a dominant force in motor racing. They dominated Grand Prix racing from 1934 onwards and set numerous long-lasting records.

During World War II, they were brought to the brink of extinction, only to be re-founded in Ingolstadt, Bavaria in 1949, and eventually evolving into the modern-day Auto Company following its takeover by Volkswagen in 1964. In 1969, they merged with NSU motorenwerke.

The current company with the Auto Union name (Auto Union GmbH) was founded in 1985 and is a subsidiary of Audi AG.

Winklhofer & Jaenicke was established in 1896 by Johann Baptist Winklhofer und Richard Adolf Jaenicke. They built motorcycles in 1902 and automobiles a year later. Beginning in 1911, the company used the Wanderer brand name for overseas exports. The name was soon adopted for domestic sales and civilian automobiles until 1941. During World War II, they produced military vehicles until 1945.

In 1929, the company owner, Dresdner Bank, sold the motorcycle business portion of Wanderer to František Janeček, and in 1932 divested the rest of Wanderer. The car division became part of Auto Union and built various mid-priced small cars.

In 1936, the Wanderer w25k was introduced. It had low-slung lines and deep-cut doors. Power was from a 6-cylinder engine conceived by Ferdinand Porsche and often fitted with a supercharger. It is believed that around 250 examples of the W25K were ever produced.

This particular example is an open-top sports car. Little is known about its history; it is believed that the 6-cylinder in the engine bay is a non-original variant. It has white-faced gauges and a four-speed manual transmission.

By Daniel Vaughan | Apr 2017