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Sachsenring 1956-1959 - GDR top class

Name: Sachsenring P 240 1956
Brand: Sachsenring

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Created in 2011

Text:

Roger Gloor

Photos:

Bruno von Rotz

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Bruno von Rotz

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Sachsenring P 240 (1958) - mid-range sedan, originally called Horch 240, but then built 1382 times as Sachsenring from 1958 - in the August Horch Museum in Zwickau

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Horch P240 Sachsenring (1957) - with 80 hp in-line six-cylinder engine, 1382 units built - at Retro Classics Stuttgart 2013

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AWZ Sachsenring P 70 Coupé (1957) - with number C3 in the Concours d'Elégance at the Schloss Bensberg Classics 2015

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Summary

There were around 10,000 car brands and designers - most of them have disappeared. The East German brand Horch is also one of them. The Horch Sachsenring P 240 was produced from 1956. The luxury sedan went down in GDR history, but production was too complex and therefore the vehicle was too expensive. Only around 1,300 units were produced over a period of three years.

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Preview (beginning of the article)

After the Second World War, East Germany became a "Soviet zone", which also included former BMW, DKW and the Auto-Union luxury brand Horch factories. The latter were located in Zwickau and were soon called VEB (= state-owned enterprise) Kraftfahrzeugwerke Horch. They were initially used for the production of urgently needed commercial vehicles. The Horch luxury sedan developed from 1953 onwards was presented at the Leipzig Spring Fair in 1956 and went down in GDR history as the Sachsenring P 240. The P 240 was based on a box-section chassis, the front independent suspension and the rear rigid axle had longitudinal spring rods. The six-cylinder engine had been specially developed for this model, which was intended for party cadres and executives.

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