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AWZ P 70 Zwickau - innovative East German mobility in the 1950s

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Created on May 16, 2020

Reading time 5min

Written by:

Daniel Koch

Photos:

Bruno von Rotz

2

Wolfram Hamann

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Archiv

13

Bruno von Rotz

2

Wolfram Hamann

1

Archiv

13

AWZ P 70 Zwickau (1957) - als Limousine und Kombi auf dem Deckblatt eines Verkaufsprospekts

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AWZ P 70 Zwickau (1957) - klettert auch gut den Berg hinaus

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AWZ P 70 Zwickau (1956) - Vorgänger des Trabant

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AWZ P 70 Zwickau (1956) - Kunststoff anstatt Blech

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AWZ P 70 Zwickau (1956) - Pontonkarosserie der Fünfzigerjahre

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AWZ P 70 Zwickau (1957) - Sollte die DDR mobil machen

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AWZ P 70 Zwickau (1957) - In der Kombivariante

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AWZ P 70 Zwickau (1957) - War in der Produktion zu teuer

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AWZ P 70 Zwickau (1957) - Kleinwagen mit Zweizylinder-Zweitaktmotor

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AWZ P 70 Zwickau (1957) - Es gab sogar ein Faltdach als Option

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AWZ P 70 Zwickau (1957) - Praktische Kombiversion "Tourist"

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AWZ P 70 Zwickau (1957) - Fahrgestell

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AWZ P 70 Zwickau (1957) - der Motor mit 22 PS

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AWZ Sachsenring P 70 Coupé (1957) - mit Nummer C3 im Concours d'Elégance an der Schloss Bensberg Classics 2015

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AWZ P 70 Coupé (1959) - elegant und schön präsentiert - August Horch Museum in Zwickau

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AWZ P 70 (1958) - das erste Fahrzeug mit Duroplast-Karosserie - gezeigt vom August Horch Museum Zwickau (Retro Classics Bavaria 2017 in Nürnberg)

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Summary

The AWZ P 70 from Zwickau from 1955 is a predecessor of the GDR car Trabant, designed to promote mass motorization in East Germany. However, high prices, long waiting lists and limited production capacity prevented the small car, which was equipped with a water-cooled two-cylinder, two-stroke engine, from being a great success. This report tells the short history of the compact plastic car from the GDR and shows it in historical illustrations and in the sales literature of the time.

This article contains the following chapters

Corvette technology from the East?
Four years of development
Only the bare essentials on board
Modest propulsion
Trade press from the FRG
Not very enthusiastic

Estimated reading time: 5min

Preview (beginning of the article)

The AWZ P 70 is considered the predecessor of the East German Trabbi and was intended to promote mass motorization in the GDR. However, it is unclear how this was to be achieved, because at 9500 Ostmarks, the two-door small car was out of reach for most normal citizens. What's more, you couldn't just go to the dealer to buy a car from the showroom back then, but were put on long waiting lists and often only got the chance to buy a vehicle after many years. In September 1955, the two-door model was exhibited at the autumn trade fair in Leipzig, but the somewhat uninspired pontoon shape was apparently only met with moderate enthusiasm.

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