Austro-Daimler Sascha

Austro-Daimler Sascha in the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart

The Austro-Daimler Sascha (also called ADS-R,Sascha or Sascha Porsche) is a car from 1922. It was designed by the [Austrian, Czechoslovak and German car, truck, aviation motor and tank designer] Ferdinand Porsche and built by Porsche along with engineers Otto Köhler, Karl Rabe, and Otto Zadnik. The car was named after Count Sascha Kolowrat-Krakowsky, a friend who had greatly encouraged Porsche to build a small, lightweight sports car, and who also personally financed the project after Austro-Daimler refused to back it.[1]

The Sascha had a four cylinder engine with 8 inclined overhead valves and bevel-driven dual overhead camshafts, preceding the bevel drive of the later Fuhrmann engine in some Porsche 356 Carrera models. The motor had a very wide crankcase with a cast flat surface all along the two members of the ladder frame to which it was bolted rigidly in the same fashion as the big 6 Cylinder Hispano Suiza cars. The engine of the Sascha had a capacity of 1100 cc and produced 50 horsepower, which was quite a lot for that time.^[citation needed]

The car achieved a top speed of 144 km/h. For racing, the fender and spotlight could be removed. Surviving examples of this vehicle show staggered bucket seats for the driver and mechanic and the absence of a tail body. In most period photographs, the rear suspension, brakes and differential are exposed, though some also show a variant with a small torpedo tail being used.^[citation needed]

For the Targa Florio race of 1922, four Saschas were sent to Sicily. Playing card symbols were painted on each car to differentiate them. Three competed in the 1.1 liter class, but the car driven by Kolowrat had to drop out of the race due to engine trouble. The fourth was equipped with a 1.5l engine where it placed 19th in the open class, competing against cars that were larger with more horsepower.[2][3]

The 1.1 liter cars came in first and second in the 1100 cc-class[3] with an average speed of 54 kilometres per hour (34 mph) over a distance of 432 kilometres (268 mi), with very bad roads and a few slopes of 12.5%. By comparison, the overall winner of the Targa Florio in 1922 won in a Mercedes at an average of 63 km/h while the car was equipped with a much more powerful engine.^[citation needed]

Despite the impressive performance of the ADS-R in the races, Austro-Daimler refused to put the car into production as they felt there would not be a market for the car in Austria. This decision was one of the reasons that Ferdinand decided to leave the company and found Porsche in 1931. One surviving example was restored by the Porsche Heritage and Museum department in Wiener Neustadt, Austria in 2023.[2][3]

References

1. "Austro-Daimler Sascha ADS-R | Ferdinand Porsche Erlebniswelten fahr(T)raum Mattsee".
2. "Bringing the Austro-Daimler ADS-R "Sascha" back home". Porsche Newsroom. April 12, 2023.
3. "Why Is This Century-Old Austro-Daimler Sascha Important To Porsche?". Motor1.com.

Bibliography

• Wood, J (1997). Porsche:The Legend. Parragon. ISBN 0-7525-2072-5.

External links

• "photo Sascha during the Targa Florio".