Wartburg 1.3 History

By the mid-1980s it was clear that the two-stroke engine that had defined Wartburg for three decades could not survive tightening emissions standards in key export markets, particularly West Germany and Scandinavia. In 1984, IFA (the East German industrial combine) reached a licensing deal with Volkswagen to assemble the 1.3-litre EA111 four-cylinder engine — the same unit used in the second-generation Volkswagen Polo — at the Barkas plant in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz). Adapting the engine to the Wartburg bodyshell proved difficult: it was too long to mount longitudinally and could not fit transversely within the existing front axle geometry, forcing AWE to design an entirely new front end and transmission before production could begin in October 1988.

The resulting Wartburg 1.3 was externally similar to the 353W but significantly quieter, cleaner, and more refined, producing 58 PS initially (raised to 64 PS after July 1990). The car was offered as a sedan, an estate (Tourist), and a small-series pickup (Trans, approximately 920 units). About half of the 152,757 total units built were destined for export — a significant proportion, given that reunification suddenly opened East German consumers to competition from the full range of Western cars.

Production ended on 10 April 1991, the formal close of the Wartburg brand. The Eisenach factory was acquired by Opel, which used the site to produce the Opel Astra and later the Opel Corsa. The 1.3 was, in the end, too little too late: a modern engine in an aging body could not compete commercially with the flood of Western vehicles that followed German reunification.