At the beginning of 1951, the GDR government commissioned vehicle designers, initially under Ernst Ring and later Arthur Rosenhammer, to establish a racing team in Berlin-Johannisthal. Their objective was to construct a competitive racing car based on the BMW 328 to demonstrate the efficiency of socialist industry. In 1952, the R1 racing sports car, developed from the BMW model, achieved a victory at the AVUS. After the 1952 season, the racing collective relocated to the Eisenach engine works (EMW) for the 1953 season. The material brought from Johannisthal was worn out, and it was foreseeable that the vehicles would no longer be competitive. The collective, which was heavily reshuffled after the move, began developing a new 1.5-liter racing car as early as possible. Edgar Barth drove one of these cars for the EMW racing collective at the 1953 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, marking the only time a GDR racing team participated in a race for the Automobile World Championship.
The racing collective aimed to start the 1954 season with completely new, streamlined racing vehicles and a new engine that was no longer based on the BMW 328. The new racing sports car featured a six-cylinder, four-stroke in-line engine made of light alloy with two overhead camshafts and dual ignition. This engine produced 138 hp at 7000 min⁻¹ with a displacement of 1498 cubic centimeters. The chassis incorporated independent front suspension and a rear axle based on the De Dion principle, both with torsion bar suspension. The 280mm drum brakes were carried over from the EMW 340-2 but featured improved heat dissipation.
The EMW 1500 debuted on May 16, 1954, in Leipzig, with Arthur Rosenhammer driving the new car to victory. A second car was ready for the Eifel race on May 23 at the Nürburgring, driven by Edgar Barth, who finished tenth while Rosenhammer retired with a damaged clutch. In August 1954, at the German Grand Prix, a sports car race supporting the 1954 European Grand Prix, Barth finished sixth and Rosenhammer retired again with gearbox failure.
On December 3, 1954, Arthur Rosenhammer achieved a world speed record on the Dessau racetrack, covering 10 miles with an average speed of 229.5 km/h.
During the 1954/55 winter break, four more vehicles were designed with improvements to the chassis, steering, brakes, and bodywork based on the experience of the 1954 season. All four new vehicles were ready for the start of the 1955 season in Dessau. Edgar Barth, Arthur Rosenhammer, and Paul Thiel achieved a triple victory.
Edgar Barth and Paul Thiel also achieved a notable result in the 1955 Eifel race at the Nürburgring. Edgar Barth won the sports car class up to 1.5 liters in a ten-lap race in a time of 1:53:19.6 hours, averaging 120.8 km/h, ahead of his teammate Thiel. In practice, Barth drove the fastest lap for sports cars up to 1.5 liters in 10:39.1 minutes, averaging 128.5 km/h.
At the turn of the season in 1955/56, the EMW racing collective was renamed the AWE racing collective. On April 29, 1956, Rosenhammer and Barth entered their 1955 AWE racing car in the Paris Grand Prix, finishing third and fourth.
At the ADAC 1000 km race on May 27, 1956, at the Nürburgring, the AWE racing collective started with two vehicles. The Edgar Barth/Arthur Rosenhammer team finished seventh in the overall classification and third in the sports car class up to 1500 cm³, completing 43 laps in 8:05:54.2 hours, with an average speed of 121.1 km/h. This result secured a podium finish in their class.
The racing collective's last appearance was on September 23, 1956, in Dessau. After the 1956 season, the development of racing vehicles at the Eisenach automobile plant was stopped, and the racing collective was dissolved in April 1957. Edgar Barth then switched to Porsche in West Germany in 1957.
The AWE racing cars were characterized by a dry weight of approximately 500 kg and a top speed of approximately 235 km/h. Between 1953 and 1955, eight vehicles were built. At least five of these vehicles still exist: one is in the Automobile World Museum in Eisenach, two were given to the Dresden Transport Museum, and at least two are privately owned.
The racing collective and its vehicles formed the background for the 1956 DEFA feature film Rivals at the wheel. The film depicted a fictional racing driver who chose to work in the EMW racing collective rather than pursue a career in West Germany. The drivers of the collective participated in the film as drivers and extras.
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