A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ZÜNDAPP K800
Decades before the Honda Goldwing appeared on the scene there was already a horizontally-opposed 4-cylinder engine installed in a motorcycle, by a German marque called Zündapp.
Zündapp had started out as a machine tool and armaments manufacturer in 1917, after the war in 1921 the company diversified into motorcycles – launching the Z22, known as the Motorrad für Jedermann (“motorcycle for everyone”).
The company started building larger motorcycles in 1933 with the K-series, these motorcycles used a relatively advanced for the era drivetrain including an enclosed shaft drive.
During this same time Zündapp commissioned an automotive engineer named Ferdinand Porsche to develop them a simple motor car to further diversify their product line. Porsche designed the Type 12, and although he preferred a rear mounted flat-4 horizontally opposed engine, Zündapp insisted he use a water-cooled 5-cylinder radial engine.Porsche had 3 prototypes completed by 1932, and in 1934 Adolf Hitler commissioned Porsche to create a new Volkswagen (“people’s car”) – the design of which was very similar to the Zündapp Type 12 prototypes, though now fitted with Porsche’s preferred flat-4 engine.
The Zündapp K800 appeared in 1933 with its unusual horizontally opposed 4-cylinder 798cc engine, its smaller sibling the K600 had the same engine with a capacity of 598cc. These larger-engined Zündapps were ideal for use with sidecars – thanks to their relatively powerful engines, strong pressed steel frames, and rugged girder forks
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