Melkus (formerly Heinz Melkus KG and Melkus Sportwagen GmbH) was an

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

marque A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

of single seat

racing car Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including ...

s and

sport car A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1910s and ar ...

s founded by the race driver

Heinz Melkus Heinz Melkus (20 April 1928 – 5 September 2005) was an East German race car driver and constructor of sport cars. He founded the company Melkus to produce race and sport cars, his Wartburg based Melkus RS 1000 was with 101 build units th ...

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

History

The company existed from 1959 to 1986, and then from 2009 to 2012. The cars originally used engines from

Wartburg The Wartburg () is a castle originally built in the Middle Ages. It is situated on a precipice of to the southwest of and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It was the home of St. Elisabeth of Hungary, the ...

s and many of the other parts came from Wartburgs and

Trabant Trabant () is a series of B-segment, small cars produced from 1957 until 1991 by former East Germany, East German car manufacturer HQM Sachsenring GmbH, VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau. Four models were made: the Trabant P 50, Trabant 50 ...

s. The racing cars competed in

Formula 3 Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

Formula Junior Formula Junior was an international single-seater auto racing, motor racing category that existed between 1958 and 1963. Devised by Italian motorsport promoter Count Giovanni "Johnny" Giovanni Lurani, Lurani, the formula was created as an ac ...

and

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single-seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world have historically been an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

. The 2009 to 2012 models used engines from

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

and

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

. The only road car the company produced from 1959 to 1986 was the

Melkus RS 1000 Melkus RS 1000 is a sports car produced by Melkus. It is powered by a tuned, mid-mounted 3-cylinder 2-stroke 992 cm3 engine, similar to the one in the Wartburg 353, and features gull-wing doors. 101 cars were made between 1969 and 1979 ...

. It was a sleek sports car powered by a tuned mid-mounted Wartburg 3-cylinder 2-stroke engine. Most of the cars used the 992 cc version, but some of the later cars had the 1200 cc version. It had

gullwing doors In the automotive industry, a gull-wing door, also known as a falcon-wing door, McLaren anhedral door, or an up-door, is a car door that is hinged at the roof rather than the side, as pioneered by Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, first as a race car in ...

. 101 cars were made. The company stopped making cars in 1986. In the early 1990s, Heinz Melkus and his family started running a

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

dealership in Dresden. In December 2006, Melkus Engineering--a German company owned by Peter Melkus, son of Heinz Melkus--announced it would re-launch the RS 1000 sports car. A new model, the Melkus RS 2000 was produced from 2009 to 2012. It was originally to be powered by either an

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...

Volkswagen engine. There was also talk about a GT model with . The new RS 2000 premiered at the

Frankfurt International Motor Show The International Motor Show Germany or International Mobility Show Germany, in German known as the ''Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung'' (''IAA'' – International Automobile Exhibition), is one of the world's largest mobility trade fairs. I ...

in 2009. The car manufacturing arm of Melkus filed for bankruptcy in August 2012.

Models

* Melkus JAP Eigenbau (1954) * Melkus Formel Junior Baureihe (1959/60) * Melkus Formel Junior Baureihe (1961/62) * Melkus Formel Junior Baureihe (1963) * Melkus Formel 3 Baureihe (1964) * Melkus SRG MT 77 *

Melkus PT 73 Spyder The Melkus PT 73 Spyder was a prototype racing car built by Melkus in 1973. It consisted of a new, open chassis for the Melkus RS 1000. The Škoda Metalex inspired the design. It used an 1118 cc, three-cylinder, triple carburetor two-stroke ...

* Melkus Lada ML89 * Melkus BMW MB90 * Melkus Silberpfeil * Melkus Zigarre *

* Melkus RS 2000 (2008) * Melkus RS 2000 GT (2011) * Melkus RS 2000 GTS (2011)

References

External links

Company history at RitzSite

Melkus
- Dresden based BMW and Lotus dealer
Melkus Motorsport

{{Automotive industry in Germany Car manufacturers of Germany Sports car manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in Dresden Car manufacturers of East Germany German racecar constructors Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1959