Start with what the DKW Schnellaster is: a panel van, minibus, pickup with 0.7 , built from 1949 to 1962, in a decade split by war, when civilian production stopped and restarted. What it meant takes a little longer.
Where it came from
The DKW Schnellaster, also known as the DKW F89 L, was a van produced by DKW from 1949 to 1962. Alongside the DKW F89 passenger car, it was the first vehicle to be manufactured by the new Auto Union conglomerate in Ingolstadt following the re-establishment of the business in West Germany. The model name Schnell-Laster translates from German to English as Rapid Transporter.
Under the skin
The engine is 0.7 other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. The wheelbase is 2500 mm – 3000 mm (pickup). These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
In the DKW line-up the DKW Schnellaster has a clear place: it handed the line to the DKW F1000 L; the factory was Ingolstadt. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Chevrolet Bel Air, the Citroën 2CV, the Porsche 356. Nearby in the DKW catalogue sit the DKW 3=6 and the DKW CD Manzel.
Owning one today
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the DKW Schnellaster has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.