This report by the British motoring journal "The Motor" paints a very interesting picture about the state of the automobile industry in West Germany only six months after the end of the war. The premier German budget car of the prewar period, the DKW, is now the most common vehicle on the roads. This was largely the result of them being rarely confiscated for military use and thus destroyed or captured. Auto Union, although located in the Soviet Zone prioritized the establishment of parts and servicing for the 60,000 prewar cars on the road. New cars would not hit the market until 1948-49.
Surprisingly, the author of the article gives a positive review of the Tatra T87 - usually (falsely) claimed to be a car so dangerous and unstable that German officers were banned from driving them (this never happened). British suspicion of rear-engine designs ran very deep, expressed in the motoring press since 1935. The new Volkswagen also receives positive reviews, being described as a much more comfortable vehicle than the US jeep.
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