Auto Union was the result of the merger of 4 German car companies formed in 1932. Few are aware during the 1960s, the German company which became Audi licensed car production in Argentina. These photos show the factory in action.


The Auto Union 1000 was a small front wheel drive car produced between 1958 and 1969. It was the first car model to be called an Auto Union in several decades and one of the last before the company officially became Audi in 1965. 177,648 AU 1000s were produced in Germany during their Domestic model run between 1958 and 1965. Different versions of the AU 1000s were produced under license by different companies in Brazil, Spain and Argentina.

The factory photos seen here were taken in 1960, the first year of AU 1000 production in Argentina. Between 1960 and 1969 around 30,000 AU 1000s were produced in Argentina by the IASFe (Industrias Automotriz de Santa Fe) in the city of Santa Fe. The cars design was largely unchanged throughout the 9 years of production.

Argentine Auto Union 1000s were available as a 2 or 4 door sedan, a 3 door wagon, or as a specialty Coupé or Spyder "1000 SE". The 1000 SE was built by the coach builder Fissore and was based off the specialty German "1000 SP". Although the 1000 SP resembled the famous 55-57 Thunderbirds, the SE was a departure from the German design.

These photos were sent to flickr user "AUTO UNION 1965" who graciously decided to share these excellent pictures with the world. From the rough Google translation of the picture's caption it appears these pictures were taken in 1960 by a former employee of IASFe. You can see an example of what a finished Auto Union 1000 looks like above. Even if it's unlikely you'll spot one driving down the road anytime soon in the US, it's easy to enjoy these 51 year old pictures of quirky German cars being built far away from "home".
(Photo Credit: AUTO UNION 1965)