EMW 340 Classic Cars for Sale

The EMW 340 was a 4-door saloon, and 5-door station wagon that entered production in 1949, making it the first post-war car produced in Germany. It was manufactured by Eisenach, a company that produced its first automobile in 1898.

The History of the EMW 340

Initially manufactured by BMW under the label BMW 340, the stylish EMW 340 was built on the framework of the BMW 326, originally manufactured in 1936. Despite sharing an engine and wheelbase with the earlier model, the EMW 340 had a re-designed body, with a number of mechanical and aesthetic improvements, that made it highly popular with motorists throughout its production run that continued into the 1950s.

Special Editions of the EMW 340

A coupe version of the EMW 340 was produced in much smaller numbers, in tandem with the saloon and station wagon styles, and was later given its own badge number, the EMW 327. Again, this was a revival of an earlier car, the BMW 327 that initially entered production in 1937.

How the BMW 340 became the EMW 340

Following the end of World War 2, the nation was divided in two, becoming the Soviet-controlled East Germany, and the US-led West Germany. BMW were based in the West German city of Munich, while the Eisenach factory was located just inside the border of Soviet-occupied East Germany. Despite the national divide, the EMW 340 and other automobiles entered production under the BMW brand. As the Munich factory had been largely destroyed during the war, all BMW’s produced between the end of the war and 1951 came from the Eisenach factory. In 1952, the Soviets handed the company over to the recently formed East-German government who nationalised the company, and following legal pressures from BMW re-branded the company as Eisenacher Motorenwerk (EMW).

The Success of the EMW 340

Due to the shortage of steel in post-war Germany, trends moved towards smaller vehicles powered by 4-cylinder engines. The EMW 340 with its 6-cylinder engine and fancy styling was regarded as a luxury vehicle and became popular with the middles classes with their higher levels of disposable income, especially on the other side of the Iron Curtain in West Germany.

Production on the saloon and station wagon continued until at least 1953, although the coupe version remained in production until 1955, but had by this time been re-badged as the EMW 327. By the end of its production run over 21,000 units of the EMW 340 saloon and station wagons had been built, along with 400 units of the coupe. Approximately 19,000 of these vehicles were exported out of East Germany. The end of production in 1955 also saw the end of the EMW brand. While the Eisenach factory continued to operate until 1991, future vehicles were manufactured under the Wartburg brand.