ADLER MOTORWAY – year 1939

Manufacturer: Adlerwerke Vornn. H. Kleyer AG, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

The Adler company is a famous car manufacturer since 1900 r. It mainly contributed to innovative chassis design and aerodynamic bodywork.

W 1936 r. Adler presented the new Sport-Coupe at the Berlin Motor Show, which was characterized by many technical innovations. The streamlined aluminum body - we would call it fastback today - was attached to tubular profiles permanently attached to the plate frame. The engine had the proven concept of the 1.7-liter Trumpf engine, which has proven itself in motor sport. It was a SV 4-cylinder in-line engine with a displacement 1645 cm3, developing power 33 kW (45 KM), by 4500 RPM.

After the successes in the race 24 h Le Mans and Spa, the company has switched from a 4-cylinder engine to a 6-cylinder engine, making the Autobahn model suitable for use on the motorway as well.

With a powerful engine 58,8 kW (80 KM) the car developed speed with ease 150 km/h. The lower valve timing worked smoothly up to the maximum RPM 4000 for a minute. Unlike other Adler models, the car had rear-wheel drive. The false claim of "insiders”, that it has a front drive, it came from, that the gear lever was sticking out of the instrument panel like this, as in the well-known types of Citroen and DKW. Two, and later the three horizontal Solex carburettors became 17 liters of fuel per 100 km, what about a fast and big car with a curb weight 1310 kg was moderate consumption.

Satisfactory driving properties raised both split axles. The front wheels were suspended on the arms of lever shock absorbers and transverse quarter-elliptical springs, rear - on the longitudinal arms and transverse leaf springs. It went without saying that there were hydraulic shock absorbers and all hydraulic brakes 4 wheels.

The name Autobahn comes from test and record drives on the Avus in Berlin, which was the fashion of the 1930s.