| Adler Trumpf Junior | |
| Aka: | 1934-35: Adler Trumpf Junior (1G) 1936–41: Adler Trumpf Junior (1E) 1935–37: Adler Trumpf Junior Sport |
| Manufacturer: | Adlerwerke |
| Production: | 1934-35: (1G) 24,013 units 1936-41: (1E) 78,827 units |
| Assembly: | Frankfurt am Main, Germany |
| Body Style: | “Cabrio-Limousine” (2-door Saloon/sedan with fold-away canvas roof) “Limousine” (2-door Saloon/sedan) 2- door Cabriolet Sports (Roadster) Also offered in “bare chassis” configuration 1938/39 |
| Engine: | 995 cc 4 cylinder in-line side-valve |
| Layout: | FF layout |
| Transmission: | 4-speed manual. No synchromesh. |
| Length: | 1934-35 (1G): 38601NaN1 1936-41 (1E): 42501NaN1 |
| Width: | 1934-35 (1G): 14501NaN1 1936-41 (1E): 14701NaN1 1935-37 (Sport): 15201NaN1 |
| Height: | 1934-35 (1G): 14601NaN1 1936-41 (1E): 15201NaN1 1935-37 (Sport): 13601NaN1 |
| Wheelbase: | 26301NaN1 |
| Designer: | Hans Gustav Röhr & Josef Dauben |
The Adler Trumpf Junior is a small family car introduced by the Frankfurt based auto-maker Adler, early in 1934. Trumpf Junior was conceived as a similar but smaller version of the Adler Trumpf, which had already been available for two years. It intended to broaden the range and claim a share of a growing market which DKW were creating with their F1 model, and its successors, for small inexpensive front wheel drive cars.
The Trumpf Junior's development was a shared responsibility between Hans Gustav Röhr (1895 – 1937) and his colleague and friend, Adler chief engineer Josef Dauben .[1]
The engine was a four-cylinder four stroke 995 cc side-valve unit. Claimed maximum power was of 250NaN0 at 4,000 rpm. This supported a claimed top speed of 90 km/h (56 mph). Power was delivered to the front wheels via a four speed manual transmission controlled by means of a column mounted lever.[2]
When launched at the start of 1934, the car came with a choice between a small two door “Limousine” (sedan/saloon) with a recommended price of 2,750 Marks and a small two door “Cabrio-Limousine” which was effectively a two-door sedan/saloon with a canvas foldable roof, available for only 2,650 Marks. Comparisons with the smaller engined DKW Meisterklasse F4 were unavoidable: DKW's recommended price for the DKWs was 2,500 Marks and 2,600 Marks respectively for their Limousine and Cabrio-Limousine bodied cars.[3] Adler's own Standard 6 model had, in terms of the German auto-industry, pioneered the use of all-steel car bodies from its launch in 1927. Much of the extra expense of producing steel bodied cars arose before a single car had been produced, with a high capital outlay being needed for investment in the heavy presses and dies needed to produce the pressings for the body panels. But with market demand for small cars growing rapidly in the 1930s, economies of scale entered the picture, and if a manufacturer could amortise the initial capital costs for a single model over many tens of thousand of cars, the unit cost of an all-steel body was no longer prohibitive. In 1936 Adler started to produce the Trumpf Junior saloon/sedan with an all-steel body and priced the car at 2,950 Marks, which was exactly the same price that they were now asking for the same car with a timber frame body. Both body types continued to be listed until 1939, but following a 250 Mark price reduction for the steel bodied car in 1937, it was the steel bodied car that came with the lower price. The standard all-steel bodies were provided by Germany's larger supplier of steel car bodies, Ambi-Budd of Berlin.[7]
“Limousine” and “Cabrio-Limousine” bodies for the 1936 cars continued to come from Ambi-Budd while production of the four seater cabriolet bodies was split between Ambi-Budd and Karmann of Osnabrück. The stylish and more costly two seater cabriolet bodies came from various coachbuilders including Wendler of Reutlingen.[9] 23,013 of the cars produced had been of the 1934-35 (1G) version, and by the time production came to a complete halt in 1941 Adler had added 78,827 of the 1936-41 (1E) version.[11]
Like many German auto-makers, Adler emerged from the Second World War confronting many obstacles. It avoided having its factory plant crated up and sent by train to Moscow, unlike Opel, and it did not share in the fate of DKW and BMW of finding its principal plant in the Soviet occupation zone, cut off from control, customers and principal suppliers. However, its Frankfurt home base turned out to have been chosen as the focal point for the US occupation zone. The company's factory had been badly damaged in an air-raid on 24 March 1944, and after the war the site was commandeered by the US military so was no longer available to Adler.
Ironically, at a time when no new cars were being produced, a disproportionately large number of the few private cars that had survived the hostilities were prewar DKW F series cars and Adler Trumpf Juniors. Many cars had been commandeered during the war by the military, and after the collapse of the German army cars that had been carefully concealed from German soldiers were now requisitioned by American, Russian and British soldiers. However, soldiers from each successive army demonstrated a shared reluctance to be seen driving pretty but small and not particularly fast front wheel drive Adlers and DKWs.[12] Production tooling was available, and there being no prospect of building the car at Adler's Frankfurt plant, an agreement was in place to use a nearby factory belonging to MAN, located on the north-eastern side of Gustavsburg.[14]
This entry incorporates information from the equivalent article in the German Wikipedia.
At the start of 1936, the Trumpf Junior (1G) was replaced by the Trumpf Junior (1E). The engine and 26301NaN1 wheel-base were unchanged, but a range of 3901NaN1 longer and more streamlined of bodies was introduced. From 1936 until production ended in 1941 these standard bodies would be offered without further changes.[7]
In August 1939 Adler produced the 100,000th Trumpf Junior which by then had become by far the company's best selling car to that date and, as things later turned out, of all time.[9]
A red convertible Trumpf Junior is visible in many scenes of the 1967 Soviet comedy Kidnapping, Caucasian Style.[14]