The WAF model diesels were manufactured in relatively small numbers but to very high standards by Walter A. Frisch of Lübars in what was then the Western Zone of Berlin, Germany. Beginning in 1952, the engines were made in Frisch's home workshop in the community of Lübars, a formerly separate rural village which now forms part of Greater Berlin. The date at which manufacture ceased is unclear, but it seems to have been around 1960.

By far the most common bearer of the WAF name is the WAF 1 diesel of nominally 1 cc displacement. However, Frisch also produced very small pilot runs of larger models having displacements of 3.5 and 5.0 cc. Neither of these larger models was ever put into series production. All of them were constructed to a basically similar design featuring plain bearings, crankshaft front rotary valve (FRV) induction and radial cylinder porting. Their long-stroke internal geometry gave them a very tall and perhaps somewhat retroactive appearance, but they started and ran extremely well.

The full story of the WAF engines is summarized in a detailed article which appears elsewhere on this website.