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F103 is the internal designation for a series of car models produced by
Auto Union Auto Union AG, was an amalgamation of four German automobile manufacturers, founded in 1932 and established in 1936 in Chemnitz, Saxony. It is the immediate predecessor of Audi as it is known today. As well as acting as an umbrella firm f ...
GmbH (after merger with
NSU Motorenwerke NSU Motorenwerke AG, or NSU, was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles and pedal cycles, founded in 1873. Acquired by Volkswagen Group in 1969, VW merged NSU with Auto Union, creating Audi NSU Auto Union AG, ultimately Audi. The nam ...
in 1969: Audi NSU Auto Union) in
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
from 1965 to 1972, derived from the earlier
DKW F102 The DKW F102 is a passenger car that was produced from August 1963 by the German manufacturer Auto Union. Superseding the Auto Union 1000, it was the last model branded as a DKW by the manufacturer and also the last West German production car e ...
. To signify the change from a
two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a Thermodynamic power cycle, power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being comple ...
to
four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...
engine, the
DKW DKW (''Dampf-Kraft-Wagen'', en, "steam-powered car", also ''Deutsche Kinder-Wagen'' en, "German children's car". ''Das-Kleine-Wunder'', en, "the little wonder" or ''Des-Knaben-Wunsch'', en, "the boy's wish"- from when the company built to ...
marque was dropped in favour of
Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...
, a name that had been dormant since before the Second World War.


Models

The first model was launched simply as the Audi, later being renamed the Audi 72 (72 being the nominal power output of the engine in '' PS''). The more powerful Audi 80 and Audi Super 90 sports saloons (with 80 and 90 PS respectively) appeared in 1966: in 1968 the arrival of the less powerful Audi 60 completed the range. Breaking somewhat with the naming pattern, the Audi 60 has , although export versions produce . The Audi 75 replaced both the Audi 72 and the Audi 80 from 1969 onwards. In 1972 the F103 series was discontinued in favour of the "B1"
Audi 80 The Audi 80 is a compact executive car produced by the Audi subdivision of the Volkswagen Group across four generations from 1966 to 1996. It shared its platform with the Volkswagen Passat from 1973 to 1986 and was available as a saloon, and s ...
.


Engines

The F103 series were equipped exclusively with the M118
four-cylinder The engine configuration describes the fundamental operating principles by which internal combustion engines are categorized. Piston engines are often categorized by their cylinder layout, valves and camshafts. Wankel engines are often categorize ...
four-stroke engine. These were longitudinally mounted. This combination of
front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longit ...
, which Auto Union's
DKW DKW (''Dampf-Kraft-Wagen'', en, "steam-powered car", also ''Deutsche Kinder-Wagen'' en, "German children's car". ''Das-Kleine-Wunder'', en, "the little wonder" or ''Des-Knaben-Wunsch'', en, "the boy's wish"- from when the company built to ...
brand had pioneered during the 1930s, and the longitudinal positioning of a four-cylinder engine would provide the basic template for
Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...
's successful new
Passat The Volkswagen Passat is a series of large family cars manufactured and marketed by the German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen since 1973, and now in its eighth generation. It has been marketed variously as the Dasher, Santana, Quantum, Mago ...
as well as the
Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...
models
Audi 80 The Audi 80 is a compact executive car produced by the Audi subdivision of the Volkswagen Group across four generations from 1966 to 1996. It shared its platform with the Volkswagen Passat from 1973 to 1986 and was available as a saloon, and s ...
and
Audi 100 The Audi 100 and Audi 200 (and sometimes called Audi 5000 in North America) are primarily mid-size/executive cars manufactured and marketed by the Audi division of the Volkswagen Group. The car was made from 1968 to 1997 across four generations (C ...
after Volkswagenwerk AG acquired the Auto Union from
Daimler-Benz The Mercedes-Benz Group Aktiengesellschaft, AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German Multinational corporation, multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It ...
late in 1964. Since the chassis on the F103 was taken from the
DKW F102 The DKW F102 is a passenger car that was produced from August 1963 by the German manufacturer Auto Union. Superseding the Auto Union 1000, it was the last model branded as a DKW by the manufacturer and also the last West German production car e ...
with a three-cylinder two-stroke engine, the longer engine meant that the cooling system had to be offset to the left of the engine instead of the normal position in front of it. Because of the radiator's location, the front cylinder of the engine had a tendency to run cooler than the other three and as a consequence the spark plug tended to foul up, particularly if the engine was often used in city traffic. To avoid this, it was often recommended to run a hotter spark plug (with a lower heat range) in the front cylinder than in the other three. The engines of the F103 series were developed by
Daimler-Benz The Mercedes-Benz Group Aktiengesellschaft, AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German Multinational corporation, multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It ...
as part of a military project that never came to fruition. They were dubbed the ''Mitteldruckmotor'' (medium-pressure engines) because of their unusually high BMEP (mean effective pressure, as calculated from brake torque) values, which led to a good thermodynamic efficiency. The engines had spiral-formed intake channels that gave the fuel-air mixture a good swirl. The engine had Heron-type combustion chambers with broad squish bands, further enhancing the mixture swirl and aiding good combustion. These features made it possible to use very high compression ratios for the time. The initial engine version had a compression ratio of 11:1 for 98 RON fuel and even the engines intended for 92 RON fuel had a compression of 9:1, which was a very unusually high value for the time.


Running gear

The car came with a four-speed manual transmission. Inboard mounted front disc brakes were featured, which was still unusual in the mid-size car market at this time. The rear brakes followed the more conventional drum configuration.


Bodywork

The F103 bodyshell was a development of the earlier
DKW F102 The DKW F102 is a passenger car that was produced from August 1963 by the German manufacturer Auto Union. Superseding the Auto Union 1000, it was the last model branded as a DKW by the manufacturer and also the last West German production car e ...
. The engine compartment had to be extended so that the new four-cylinder engine could be accommodated. The front and tail were also cosmetically revised: Audi F103s sold in Europe all featured quasi-rectangular headlamps which were becoming fashionable at the time, whereas the F102 had used round headlamp units. All Audi F103 models were offered as
sedans A sedan or saloon (British English) is a passenger car in a three-box configuration with separate compartments for an engine, passengers, and cargo. The first recorded use of the word "sedan" in reference to an automobile body occurred in 19 ...
with two and four doors. The two-door saloon/sedan, however, was not sold in markets such as Italy and Britain with little demand for two-door cars of this size. With the exception of the Audi Super 90, the F103 series were available also as three-door
station wagon A station wagon ( US, also wagon) or estate car ( UK, also estate), is an automotive body-style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door ( ...
models. Making its debut at the
Geneva Motor Show The Geneva International Motor Show is an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva. The show is hosted at the Palexpo, a convention centre located next to the Geneva Cointrin International Airport. The Salon is organised by th ...
in March 1966, this was called, like the
Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...
estate/station wagon models, ''Variant''.


Evolution

Initial changes were concentrated under the hood/bonnet where during the first two years of production the specification for the Solex carburetor was changed twice and in September 1967 the very high compression ratio was reduced from a (then) eye watering 11.2:1 to 9.1:1 which addressed serious "teething problems" with the engine as originally launched. In September 1967 servo-assistance for the brakes became an option, the brakes on all but the basic model now being controlled using twin braking circuits, and by (in Germany) the final months of 1968 the range had settled down to three models, with the entry level Audi 60 powered by a 55 PS motor, the less basic Audi 75 producing 75 PS and the Audi Super 90 with 90 PS, able to challenge the performance image of some of the smaller BMWs. Visually the car changed very little, but keen eyed observers would have noticed a discreetly modernised rear from August 1970, with slightly larger rear lights and a reshaped bumper. The fuel filler moved from its location to the right of the license plate on the rear panel to a position on the right hand wing of the car, and following a general trend of the period was now shielded by a flap that was flush with the bodywork. Inside the 1970 upgrade also involved a reconfigured dashboard.


Sales

During the early 1960s, Auto Union was in commercial retreat: the Audi F103 was a relative success when compared with recent Auto Union products, even if its commercial success was trumped by subsequent Audi models. In July 1967, it was reported that 100,000 Audis had been completed: production of the F103 had by now built up to a rate of almost 40,000 per year and the company was moved to deny speculation that another new Audi model would be presented at the
Frankfurt Motor Show The International Motor Show Germany or International Mobility Show Germany, in German known as the ''Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung'' (''IAA'' – International Automobile Exhibition), is one of the world's largest mobility shows. It cons ...
in the Autumn / Fall of 1967. (The
Audi 100 The Audi 100 and Audi 200 (and sometimes called Audi 5000 in North America) are primarily mid-size/executive cars manufactured and marketed by the Audi division of the Volkswagen Group. The car was made from 1968 to 1997 across four generations (C ...
was introduced only towards the end of 1968.)


Specifications

''Manufacturer's figures except where stated''


References


External links


Good overview of the development of the DKW F103 to the Audi 60 (in German)




{{Audi (North America) timeline 1970 to date F103 Executive cars Mid-size cars Sedans Station wagons Front-wheel-drive vehicles Cars introduced in 1965 1970s cars