@vdcdriver You’re right. Volkswagen contracted with dealers to stock a ONE YEAR supply of parts normally considered need to service their vehicles. That, in addition to the good reliability of the Beetle, ensured success. The bug was also the first small import to able to cruise at freeway speeds all day long without falling apart.
I worked for a gas utilly in the 50s and had a Morris Minor. Just going from the field to the head office once a week, 70 miles of freeway driving, burned out the valves by the time I had 15,000 miles on the clock. The leather upholstery still smelled new!
The company got rid of all the Minors and bought beetles with much more success.
"Good lord . . . selling a DKW in the US in the 1960s must have been a marketing nightmare
Even the Ford Falcon at least had a straight 6".
@db4690–The insignia on the front of the DKW had 3=6. This meant that its 3 cylinder engine was equivalent to a 6 cylinder engine since every downstroke was a power stroke as opposed to a 4 stroke engine where only every other downstroke is a power stroke.
I think the driving public figured out that 3 cylinders in a two stroke engine was not really the same a 6 cylinders in a 4 stroke engine.
@VDCdriver–great list. I remember most of these cars and knew the owners of many of the makes you listed. I knew 2 people who owned the DKW. On the college campus where I did my undergraduate work there was a NSU Prinz that had a rotary engine and a Skoda.
I remember when the local Buick dealer picked up the Studebaker franchise to be able to sell the Mercedes Benz cars along side the Buicks for those who wanted something more upscale.