AWS [1]

Autowerke Salzgitter, commonly known by the initials AWS, was a German vehicle manufacturer based in Salzgitter. The company's primary activity centered on refurbishing surplus Jeeps and fitting them with station wagon bodywork, adapting the rugged military vehicles for civilian use.

Beyond this core business, AWS became associated with an unusual engineering experiment involving a two-stroke, four-cylinder radial diesel engine designed by engineer Ludwig Elsbett. This distinctive powerplant was installed in a station wagon body as a test of its practicality, representing a notable departure from conventional automotive engine design of the period.

Only a handful of prototypes featuring this radial diesel configuration were ever built, and the project did not progress to series production. As a result, AWS remained a small and little-documented manufacturer, remembered chiefly for its Jeep conversions and its brief foray into experimental diesel engine technology.