JoeProte83
Mar 20, 2006, 5:58 PM
East German Revival: The $73,000 Melkus Gives a Peek Behind the Iron Curtain
DRESDEN, Germany — In one of the weirdest revivals of all time, there will be a limited-edition re-creation of the Wartburg-powered Melkus — an East German hit from the 1960s.
Heinz Melkus must have been an exceptional character, because somehow he convinced East German authorities back in the 1950s to let him build single-seater racing cars and then, starting in 1968, a plastic-bodied two-seater sports car, powered by a three-cylinder, two-stroke Wartburg engine. The result, called the RS1000 for its 1.0-liter powertrain, was a hit behind the Iron Curtain, and within a decade more than 101 cars were completed.
The Melkus RS1000 has a huge following even today. More than 80 percent of the production run still survives. The Melkus family has stuck to its roots. It now operates a Lotus and BMW dealership in Dresden and participates in various motorsport activities. Its Melkus Motorsport division is where the idea was born to relaunch the glorious RS1000 in its original specifications. Since the car used stock Wartburg parts and was clothed in a bespoke plastic body, it is not hard to reproduce the original. Only 10 will be built, powered again by three-cylinder, 1.0-liter carburetor-fed Wartburg engines.
Next on the agenda is the RS2000, which is being developed together with German engineering company EDAG. Stylingwise, it will be similar to the original with gullwing doors, but a modern 2.0-liter engine will replace the original. Production is scheduled to start in the second half of 2007, and the exercise in East Bloc nostalgia is priced at about $73,000.
http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/8517/rs1000b4hk.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/2963/p32645293qt.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
DRESDEN, Germany — In one of the weirdest revivals of all time, there will be a limited-edition re-creation of the Wartburg-powered Melkus — an East German hit from the 1960s.
Heinz Melkus must have been an exceptional character, because somehow he convinced East German authorities back in the 1950s to let him build single-seater racing cars and then, starting in 1968, a plastic-bodied two-seater sports car, powered by a three-cylinder, two-stroke Wartburg engine. The result, called the RS1000 for its 1.0-liter powertrain, was a hit behind the Iron Curtain, and within a decade more than 101 cars were completed.
The Melkus RS1000 has a huge following even today. More than 80 percent of the production run still survives. The Melkus family has stuck to its roots. It now operates a Lotus and BMW dealership in Dresden and participates in various motorsport activities. Its Melkus Motorsport division is where the idea was born to relaunch the glorious RS1000 in its original specifications. Since the car used stock Wartburg parts and was clothed in a bespoke plastic body, it is not hard to reproduce the original. Only 10 will be built, powered again by three-cylinder, 1.0-liter carburetor-fed Wartburg engines.
Next on the agenda is the RS2000, which is being developed together with German engineering company EDAG. Stylingwise, it will be similar to the original with gullwing doors, but a modern 2.0-liter engine will replace the original. Production is scheduled to start in the second half of 2007, and the exercise in East Bloc nostalgia is priced at about $73,000.
http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/8517/rs1000b4hk.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/2963/p32645293qt.jpg (http://imageshack.us)