Technology difference
After the war, massive Opels, BMWs, DKWs and even Mercedes on the streets drew little notice. People adjusted quickly. Yet their designs hid many surprising components and assemblies for Soviet motorists. The centralized lubrication systems for chassis, the torsion bar suspensions used in some BMW parts, the independent rear spring suspensions seen in Mercedes models, engines with overhead valves, and gearboxes with synchronizers all stood out as unfamiliar novelties.
Some BMWs carried torsion bar suspension, unusual for the Soviet Union.
The front suspension layout of the Opel Kapitan sedan was adopted by the Pobeda, simplifying repairs of German cars for local mechanics.
The front-wheel drive Audi, Adler and DKW surprised observers. The DKW, in particular, featured a two-stroke engine and gear levers that protruded oddly from the instrument panel. Witty observers joked that DKW stood for Fool Who Invented, yet these cars spent decades under careful stewardship.
The rare Adler Trumpf Junior with a Buhne body was one of a kind. Only 22 were produced. A neat plastic roof replaced the original canopy, a modification crafted by a Moscow owner.
Adler Trumpf Junior represented an exotic front-wheel-drive concept for the Soviet market, powered by a 32 hp engine and equipped with mechanical brakes.
The durability of German cars owed much to more than reliable engineering. Soviet citizens stockpiled spare parts, sometimes importing them from Germany or salvaging parts from worn-out vehicles. German standardization helped too: oil seals, bearings and other components often fit multiple brands and models.
There were repairs of parts that would rarely be considered today. Artur Leshtin recalled wrestling with a broken compressor shaft on a Mercedes-Benz 500K; the only option was to create a new one, and craftspeople, with access to machines, did exactly that.
The trunk and headlights welded onto the BMW 326 of the 21st Volga are now seen as typical pre-war German-car modifications in the USSR.
Over time, many cars acquired domestic suspensions, engines and gearboxes. Electrical systems shifted from 6 to 12 volts. Interiors were refreshed with better upholstery and updated controls. Engines from Pobeda, Volga and Moskvitch were fitted with ease into BMWs and Opels, though larger cars faced more challenges. Leshtin recalled the rare Horch 780 receiving a six-cylinder transformation using Gaz-51 components. Even the famous Adler Trumpf Junior, which appeared in a film, did not initially retain front-wheel drive and relied on Moskvich units in production.
Mercedes-Benz 230 from the W143 family remained actively used into the mid-1970s. The car became widely known through the Stirlitz film series, thanks to its distinctive 55 hp 2.2-liter engine.
Convertibles, once coveted, were often fitted with improvised roofs to withstand the climate, or even had cases welded to their bodies. The result resembled a collective farm on wheels, yet these vehicles served as versatile family cars for many households.
An Opel 2 L with a 36 hp six-cylinder engine preserved in excellent, original condition reflects the era, captured in Latvia in 1975.
The circle of those who approached pre-war cars more pragmatically grew over time. Some not only repaired these antiques but also restored them. After the first antique-car club formed in Riga, similar clubs appeared in other cities. Most people did not fully grasp the true value of these vehicles, often selling them for the price of a new Moskvich or Zhiguli, or trading them for imported radio equipment.
The Mercedes-Benz 200 from the early 1930s retained its independent suspension on a transverse spring for decades, a fact still remembered by enthusiasts. Yet in the 1960s, foreign collectors began to show interest in Soviet rarities. In 1967, Artur Leshtin sold his Mercedes-Benz 540K roadster to a Swedish journalist, who drove it home without fuss.
One of the thirty Horch 930 roadsters built by the Erdmann & Rossi studio moved from Kalinin to Moscow, then to Riga and finally back to Germany. It gained fame in films such as Nameless Star and Long Road in the Dunes.
Roadster Mercedes-Benz 540K, owned by Artur Leshtin, later left for Sweden in 1967.
The DKW F8 convertible with a two-stroke engine is another example. As the Union era progressed, collectors and retro enthusiasts in narrow circles, including a notable figure known as Paul Karasik, built a small but robust network around such rarities. Karasik, a Western Ukrainian by origin, later became associated with the funeral business in the United States and was said to have made a fortune there. During the perestroika years, many cars disappeared abroad. Yet some remained, including mass models that were not typically cared for, now rarities that are harder to spot than Horch or Mercedes vehicles that have entered Western Europe in recent decades.
It is a pity that not only surviving cars but some restored ones carry traces of their origin. Some even became converted. They are sometimes labeled as a group effort, a shared project, yet they stand as artifacts of their era, symbols of ingenuity and the hard work of the people who kept them running.
- Explore the era’s boldest automatic adjustments from the 1990s here.
- “Behind the wheel” is also discussed on social media in a dedicated community.