Although in retrospect it is almost always identified as the "F8" which distinguishes it from the "F7" which preceded it and from the "F9" which was intended to replace it, the manufacturer's publicity material from 1939 calls it simply the "DKW Front".

The factory and operation was reorganized as a Volkseigener Betrieb (or "People Owned Enterprise") Automobilwerke Zwickau (AWZ).

The base ‘Reichsklasse’ model had the two-stroke twin-cylinder engine from its predecessor, but fractionally bored out.

The ‘Meisterklasse’’ version of the DKW F8 also inherited its predecessor's similarly configured engine of 692 cc.

Power was delivered to the front wheels by means of a three-speed manual gear box with a lockable freewheel mechanism on all three ratios.

The outer skin of the car comprised a combination of steel panels and, for the central portion, fabric covered timber frame bodywork.

[8] Under an "inter-zone" trade agreement concluded in 1950/51 approximately 1,000 of the cars were exported to what had by now de facto become the separate country of West Germany.

[9] A wider range of body options included an estate and light commercial variants.