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EMW 340: The Angel Of Socialism

2024

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Video: EMW 340: The Angel Of Socialism

Video: EMW 340: The Angel Of Socialism
Video: EMW (BMW) 340 – заехали на легкое ТО 2024, March
EMW 340: The Angel Of Socialism
EMW 340: The Angel Of Socialism
Anonim

EMW 340

EMW 340
EMW 340

EMW 340 EMW 340

A solid, perhaps even a monumental body with comfortable soft seats. Inside, almost all the amenities conceivable in the 1940s, solid finish. A sufficiently powerful 2-liter engine, a four-speed gearbox with synchronizers, rack and pinion steering, hydraulic brakes, and a central lubrication system for the chassis. In general, a thoroughbred German car with a familiar emblem above the grille. But just in 1951, when this car was born, the blue color of the emblem was changed to red, and the country where it was created was for two years called the croaking abbreviation of the GDR.

The main difference between the cabin of the 340th EMV and the pre-war ones is the steering wheel light in the fashion of the 1940s and the gearshift lever on the steering column. Changed and appliances

Основное отличие салона 340-го ЭМВ от предвоенных - светлый по моде 1940-х годов руль и рычаг переключения передач на рулевой колонке. Изменили и приборы
Основное отличие салона 340-го ЭМВ от предвоенных - светлый по моде 1940-х годов руль и рычаг переключения передач на рулевой колонке. Изменили и приборы

The main difference between the cabin of the 340th EMV and the pre-war ones is the steering wheel light in the fashion of the 1940s and the gearshift lever on the steering column. Changed and appliances. The main difference between the cabin of the 340th EMV and the pre-war ones is the steering wheel light in the fashion of the 1940s and the gearshift lever on the steering column. Changed and appliances.

“IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE OF TURINGIA”

It was this formulation that sounded in the decree of the SVAG (Soviet Military Administration in Germany) on the resumption of BMW production in Eisenach. In Munich, before the war they did not make cars; they produced motorcycles and the main products - aircraft engines. The Bavarian factory was in ruins, and the Thuringian plant could work. Equipment from Ambi-Badd, the main supplier of bodies for BMWs, was taken out of Berlin, and already in 1946 they began production of pre-war models of the 320 series. The plant entered the Soviet-German joint-stock company Avtovelo, which operated under the control of the All-Union Aviation Administration.

In addition to the fuel level indicator and water temperature, there are pressure sensors and even oil temperature

Помимо указателя уровня топлива и температуры воды есть датчики давления и даже температуры масла
Помимо указателя уровня топлива и температуры воды есть датчики давления и даже температуры масла

In addition to the fuel level indicator and water temperature, there are pressure sensors and even oil temperature. In addition to the fuel level indicator and water temperature, there are pressure sensors and even oil temperature.

Workers, engineers and designers, including the talented draftsman Hans Fleischer, who started as a locksmith in Eisenach back in 1935, returned to the enterprise. Later, he created all the cars of the Wartburg brand, but this was still a long way off. There were no two more Germanys, but only the Eastern and Western zones of occupation, and it seems that nobody was going to divide the country into two states. Many BMWs manufactured in Thuringia went to the USSR for reparations. So far they were no different from the pre-war machines that were brought to us as trophies.

The clock is already counting the 53rd year from the birthday of the car

Часы отсчитывают уже 53-й год со дня рождения автомобиля
Часы отсчитывают уже 53-й год со дня рождения автомобиля

The clock is already counting the 53rd year from the birthday of the car. The clock is already counting the 53rd year from the birthday of the car.

EASTERN BAROQUE

In 1951, the first major auto show in post-war Germany was held in Frankfurt. Among the many new products that were proudly demonstrated by the industry revived after the war, a handsome, with rounded shapes and massive wings BMV-501 flaunted. The Munich factory, which was practically rebuilt anew, only in 1947, not immediately receiving permission from the American authorities, began to produce motorcycles, and it started to manufacture automobiles with great difficulty four years later.

East German socialist version of the famous Bavarian emblem

Восточногерманский социалистический вариант знаменитой баварской эмблемы
Восточногерманский социалистический вариант знаменитой баварской эмблемы

East German socialist version of the famous Bavarian emblem. East German socialist version of the famous Bavarian emblem.

BMW-501 for an impressive, perhaps even royal posture, was soon nicknamed the "Baroque Angel." But a very similar car two years earlier appeared in Thuringia - however, it did not become a serial one.

Of course, both the Bavarians and Thuringians used the pre-war developments. But the priority was in the pre-war automobile center of the concern - Eisenach. There, through the efforts of Hans Fleischer and his colleagues, they created three prototypes (two BMW-342 and one BMW-343) on pre-war units, but with heavily modified bodies that look like Munich's BMW-501. In the series in the East in 1949, they launched the BMW-340, which was less different from pre-war models. By analogy with the western BMW, it could be called the "angel of socialism." But communist ideology is suspicious of angels.

The steering column on the BMW has been locked since the pre-war era

Рулевая колонка на БМВ запиралась еще с довоенных времен
Рулевая колонка на БМВ запиралась еще с довоенных времен

The steering column on the BMW has been locked since the pre-war era. The steering column on the BMW has been locked since the pre-war era.

In October 1949, the Soviet zone of occupation turned into the German Democratic Republic, with Wilhelm Peak becoming its president. BMW-340 - in fact, the first new (not copying fully pre-war) passenger car of the new state.

Model 340 would now be called a restyled BMW-326. But the changes are much more serious than usually happens in our time. The engine, gearbox and chassis remained the same, but the wings and front doors, the rear and the hood are different. Large headlights were mounted in the front fenders, and the traditional BMW radiator trim with “nostrils” was abandoned in favor of the more horizontal horizontal in those years.

This monumental wheel lifted the windshield for ventilation

Этим монументальным колесиком приподнимали для вентиляции ветровое стекло
Этим монументальным колесиком приподнимали для вентиляции ветровое стекло

This monumental wheel lifted the windshield for ventilation. This monumental wheel lifted the windshield for ventilation.

According to habits and management, the car is almost no different from pre-war relatives. 55 hp motor with two carburetors decently accelerates the car. Brakes - hydraulic, with automatic adjustment of the gap between the pads and the drum, adequate acceleration characteristics. The steering by the standards of those years is quite tolerable. Such an effort and backlash were considered the norm for at least another ten years. The suspension is sharpened for comfort - as carefully as possible hides bumps from riders.

Included with the leather sofa are three folding armrests

В комплекте к кожаному дивану - три откидных подлокотника
В комплекте к кожаному дивану - три откидных подлокотника

Included with the leather sofa are three folding armrests. Included with the leather sofa are three folding armrests.

But the gearshift lever would be better not transferred from the floor under the steering wheel, following the fashion that began in the 1940s. I did not find the clarity of work characteristic of the BMW 320 Series. However, the new car may have been better. The saloon is spacious, not bad even at the wheel, and in the back it’s completely noble. On such a couch, the Gaedera chiefs of the 1950s probably thought well about building a “right” Germany. Probably, in such sedans, figures of district, and even republican, drove. The country was just divided into districts (Eisenach, by the way, entered the Erfurt district), apparently in order to forget about the former Germany, divided into lands.

The famous inline “six” with a volume of 2 liters was famous for reliability. Such engines after the war were put on Bavarian and Thuringian cars

Знаменитая рядная «шестерка» объемом 2 л славилась надежностью. Такие моторы после войны ставили и на баварские, и на тюрингские автомобили
Знаменитая рядная «шестерка» объемом 2 л славилась надежностью. Такие моторы после войны ставили и на баварские, и на тюрингские автомобили

The famous inline “six” with a volume of 2 liters was famous for reliability. Such engines after the war were put on Bavarian and Thuringian cars. The famous inline “six” with a volume of 2 liters was famous for reliability. Such engines after the war were put on Bavarian and Thuringian cars.

Ordinary citizens of the GDR, such a machine, of course, was not available. And in the USSR, where the 340th was delivered, not everyone could buy it. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, the German car was worth a little less than the comparable Victory characteristics. By the way, the East German BMW is one of the few foreign cars that have been sold to Soviet citizens in its entire history.

BLUE AND RED

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In 1951, the color of the emblem and the name of the car from Eisenach changed. The Munich team also began exporting their cars (BMWs from Thuringia were sold mainly to Scandinavia), and for some time the situation was paradoxical: two factories from different, and far from the most friendly, countries offered cars under the same brand. Munich, however, sued Eisenach's name and coat of arms. Then the color of the emblem of the Oriental cars without thinking twice changed to red, and the name to EMV.

The study of blue and red emblems, as well as the differences between early and late BMWs, is one of the favorite entertainments of cars obsessed with Moscow boys forty-fifty years ago. Even in the early 1970s, the 340s, like “victories,” served as everyday family vehicles. Cars were already considered old, but well-groomed specimens from good hands were not valued as collectibles.

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Long before that, in 1952, the GDR officially headed for the construction of socialism. In July 1953, the Berlin uprising of German workers took place, outraged by rising prices and rising production standards. A wave of demonstrations took place across the country and was stopped by Soviet tanks. And two years later, the history of the eastern BMW finally ended. After the 340 model in Eisenach began to do "Wartburg". Partly returned to the origins: cars from Eisenach were named after the famous Thuringian castle at the end of the 19th century. But no less important, the neutral geographical name and emblem were much more convenient for the socialist car.

For a long time there is no EMV brand, as, indeed, Wartburg, there is neither the GDR, nor the USSR. But the car is there, and it is quite lively and efficient. As you know, living in an era of change is not easy, but, fortunately, she was lucky.

FROM B TO E

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BMW-340 produced in Eisenach since 1949, since 1951 - under the name EMV-340. The pre-war 2-liter engine with two carburetors developed 55 hp. (57 hp from 1951), four-speed gearbox. The car developed a speed of 120 km / h.

In addition to sedans, station wagons were made (in German - combi), vans, ambulances, chassis, they even built several cars with right-hand drive. Until 1955, 21, 249 cars were made, mostly it was sedans (18, 819 units). In 1951, the plant produced 8537 machines of the EMB-340 brand.

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