[2] The figure is dwarfed by the approximately 218,000 smaller DKW F1 and its successors produced at Zwickau between 1931 and 1942, and in retrospect the Typ 4=8 tends to be overlooked when compared to its front-wheel drive sibling; but it was nevertheless in the 1930s a significant participant in the growing German auto-market.

The name "Schwebeklasse" which was used for models produced between 1934 and 1937 apparently referred to the cars "floating" axle, a component of the suspension system which was advertised as providing superior handling.

Power, maximum output of which was claimed at 25 PS (18 kW), was transmitted to the rear wheels via a 3-speed manual transmission controlled from a lever in the middle of the floor.

[1] The car was now offered either as a two-door cabrio-limousine (a soft topped four seater with fixed side windows) or as a full two-seater cabriolet.

The 990cc engine specification that continued to be included through several successive model upgrades, although changes to compression ratios and the increase in production and sales levels suggest that detailed work continued in order to address the more acute engine problems reported on the early cars.

[6] The name was modified to DKW 1001 Sonderklasse and the rear suspension was redesigned, now featuring a "floating axle" (in German Schwebeachse) suspended from a high level laterally mounted leaf spring.

Once again customers could choose between a four-seater limousine (sedan/saloon), a soft-topped four seater cabrio-limousine or a full (two-seater) cabriolet, all three body types supplied with two doors and all three offered at the same manufacturer's published retail price down to 3,000 Marks, reflecting the currency deflation affecting many European economies in the mid-1930s.

[1] 1934 saw the arrival of a new model, still powered by the familiar 990cc engine and using the gearbox and underpinnings of the previous model, but the floating axle for the rear wheels was now joined by a second floating axle, suspended from a high level transversely mounted leaf spring, for the front wheels.

Timber-frame construction was at this stage retained, but there was no further increase in the wheelbase length, and the body was more rigid than that of the earlier model, though durability remained an issue.

[1] The choice of bodies was now between a four-seater limousine (sedan/saloon) and a soft-topped four seater cabrio-limousine: the two-seater cabriolet was no longer offered.

During eleven years between 1929 and 1940 DKW produced approximately 24,000 of their small rear wheel drive cars.