1956 DKW Schnellaster Kastenwagen

Sold for $101,750 at 2013 Gooding and Company - Pebble Beach.
Sold for $93,500 at 2018 Gooding & Company : Scottsdale, Az..
The 'Schnellaster Kastenwagen,' or 'Rapid Transit Panel Van,' was a van that had large capacity, a flat floor, low-threshold loading deck, and an easily accessible engine. It was conceived as a rival to Volkswagen's Transporter/Kombi.

During the 1950s DKW's US marketing team tried associating their products with Hollywood. They were able to get Swedish actress Anita Ekberg to drive a DKW Sports Coupe in the 1957 feature film Valerie. They felt that the big screen could be more effective than promoting their product in newspaper ads. Unfortunately for DKW, the Volkswagen product simply overwhelmed DKW, which ceased production in 1966.

Chassis number F800/3 22512640
This Schnellaster Kastenwagen 3=6 is powered by an 896cc 3-cylinder, 2-stroke engine, which produces 42 horsepower. There is a four-speed manual transmission and four-wheel drum brakes. It was shipped new from Ingolstadt, Germany on April 5th, 1956, to Peter Satori Motors in Pasadena, California. It was used as a delivery vehicle for an auto parts supplier in Orange County until mechanical issues forced it into retirement. The van would sit in the store's parking lot for over two decades, serving as a stationary billboard with hand-painted signage on the side panels.

The completed van was finished in 'Jadegrun' (Jade Green) and 'EierschalenweiB' (Shell White). The driver's seat and the optional foldaway front passenger seat were reupholstered in the correct pebbled brown vinyl, and rubber floor mats of the correct specification were replicated.

This van has US-specification pivoting front vent windows, turn signal lights (the European version had semaphores), and a center-mounted license/stop light.

It is believed that there were just four known 'Kastenwagens' residing in the United. This example is the only restored and operational example.

By Daniel Vaughan | Dec 2013