Eisenacher Motorenwerk

Eisenacher Motorenwerk (EMW) was an East German manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles based in Eisenach. EMW also entered Formula One as a constructor in 1953, but participated in only one race, the 1953 German Grand Prix. The car retired after 12 laps with exhaust problems.

Continuing BMW production

thumb|left|1952-1955 [[EMW 340, with a redesigned grille]]

One of the pre-World War II BMW factories was located in Eisenach, which was initially occupied by American forces in April 1945. It had already been agreed between the allies that the whole of Thuringia would fall within the Soviet occupation zone: transfer of the region to the Soviets took place in July 1945. The tooling for BMW's manufacturing facility had been hidden in nearby mines during the war, but the entire operations were intended to be crated up and taken by rail to the Soviet Union as part of the substantial post war reparations package. Initially, the plant focused on making cooking pots and wheelbarrows and the like, but surviving workers returning from the war recommenced automobile production on a small scale, using prewar designs and depending on existing parts stocks. Albert Seidler, the man in charge of Eisenach motor bike production, had a brand new BMW 321 (with red seats) assembled and presented it to Marshal Georgy Zhukov. The Russians were evidently impressed, and agreed to halt dismantling the plant if the workers were able to assemble five more cars in one week. Zhukov issued order no. 93 in October 1945, agreeing to have finished cars sent to the Soviet Union as part of the reparations package rather than the plant itself. This remilitarization, however, violated the terms of the Potsdam Conference and led to protests from the West.

New designs

Later the automobile section of EMW became VEB Automobilwerk Eisenach and built the Wartburg. Motorcycle manufacture ended in the 1950s and was replaced by the AWO 425 built by Simson at Suhl.

left|thumb|An EMW. Note the BMW-like grille.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"

! Year

! Chassis

! Engine

! Tyres

! Driver

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! Points

! WCC

|rowspan="2"|

|rowspan="2"| EMW R2

|rowspan="2"| EMW L6

|rowspan="2"|

| ARG

| 500

| NED

| BEL

| FRA

| GBR

| GER

| SUI

| ITA

|rowspan="2"| n/a

|align="left"| Edgar Barth

|style="background:#efcfff;"| Ret

!colspan="16"|