Melkus Sports and Racing Cars

Heinz Melkus designed and produced a range of single seat racing cars and road going sports cars between 1959 and 1986. The cars were produced in Dresden in East Germany.

The cars all used Wartburg engines and many other parts were sourced from native Wartburgs and Trabants

Melkus racing cars competed in Formula III, Formula Junior, or Formula E events.

A Melkus Silberpfeil in action and a close up of a similar cars engine

An extract from a brochure showing how the Wartburg engine and transmission fit into the Melkus Racing car

The Melkus RS1000 was a stylish road going sports car featuring a mid-mounted tuned version of the Wartburg 3 cylinder 2-stroke engine. Most cars used the 992cc version of this engine, but a few of the later cars were built using a special 1200cc version.

Melkus RS1000

The RS1000 had 'gull-wing' doors and both the looks and performance to rival western contempories. Just over 100 RS1000s were made.

Heinz Melkus and his family now run a BMW dealership in Dresden called Autohaus Melkus