To say the history of the 100 is complex is an understatement. Its badge represents the four constituent marques of Auto Union-Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer. When Auto Union resumed car production after the Second World War, it decided to use only the DKW brand for a range of affordable FWD, three-cylinder, two-stroke saloons. By the time Daimler-Benz acquired Auto Union in 1958, the German Wirtschaftswunder (the Economic Miracle) was underway. By the early 1960s, many drivers regarded two-stroke engines as unrefined, uneconomical, noisy and generally passe. In response, Auto Union's technical director, Ludwig Kraus, commenced work on a new 1.7-litre four-stroke engine and the 1963 F102 was the last DKW to use the two-stroke format.
When the F103 debuted in September 1965, it may have resembled the F102, but…