1936 Auto-Union Type C

The legendary Auto Únion Silver Arrows dominated the major races of the 1930s, winning 32 of 54 races up to the end of 1937. The battles fought out between the Auto Únion race cars and the Mercedes single-seaters are unforgotten. Names such as Hans Stuck, Bernd Rosemeyer and Tazio Nuvolari are inseparably linked with the Auto Únion Silver Arrows. The famous photographer Peter Vann has now paid tribute to these impressive racers in his fascinating illustrative book 'Auto Únion GP. Race and Record Cars'. Due to be published in October, his book illustrates the restoration of these unique vehicles and the exciting search for clues to the whereabouts of those race cars that had been lost without trace. Elaborate photo stories show the timeless beauty of the Silver Arrows with the four rings. A historical outline with plenty of background information, plus details about the technology and design of these legendary race cars round off this photographic volume.

Detailed and meticulously documented reproductions of these 'silver' Auto Únion racers are the result of an obligation undertaken by Audi to remain faithful to its own history.

Most of the Auto Únion Grand Prix race cars built in the German town of Zwickau in Saxony went missing after the Second World War. All that remained were photos, documents and five originals worldwide, including three 12-cylinder Type D, a 16-cylinder Type C and a single 16-cylinder Type C hillclimb racing car. AÚDI AG acquired the latter in Riga, Latvia in 1995. It can now be admired in Audi's museum mobile in Ingolstadt.

The 16-cylinder Type C that returned home via Riga served Crosthwaite & Gardiner, the British restoration specialists commissioned by Audi Tradition, as a model for an exact reproduction which was sent to the museum in Riga in return.

In the meantime several lost Auto Únion racing cars have been faithfully reproduced and are used, for example, for demonstrations at historic races. Not only is the above-mentioned hillclimb racing car used but also a 12-cylinder Type D and the 16-cylinder AVÚS Type C Streamliner racing car which is particularly spectacular. The fascination of this vehicle is undiminished: in May 2000 this terrific Streamliner race car tore around the banked curve of the famous French circuit at Montlhéry. This was exactly 63 years after its premiere at the Avus circuit in Berlin in May 1937, when Bernd Rosemeyer took a car of this type to a speed of 380 km/h on the straights. This unique race car now also has a place of honour in the museum mobile.

Source - Audi

Auto Union Silver Arrows back on the starting grid in Monte Carlo

- Jacky Ickx and Hans-Joachim Stuck at the wheel of motorsport legends
- Auto Únion Type C and D thunder through the streets of the Principality
- Two special runs at the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique on May 1 and 2

INGOLSTADT, Germany, Apr 22, 2010 - The hearts of fans of historic motor sport will beat faster on the first weekend in May. They may have the good fortune to witness the moment when two legends meet up again: Auto Únion racing cars from the 1930s and Monte Carlo, the jewel in the annual motor sport calendar. For the first time since 1937, the sound of two Auto Únion Silver Arrows will echo through the narrow streets of the Principality – at the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique on May 1 and 2. These giants of a past era will have worthy drivers: former Formula One stars Jacky Ickx and Hans-Joachim Stuck.

Hans-Joachim Stuck explains how much this guest appearance means to him: 'It will be a very emotional moment for me when I sit in the car that my father also drove in Monte Carlo. When I think of the sound the 16-cylinder engine will make in those built-up streets, it already sends a shiver down my spine!' It was Hans Stuck who brought home the first major successes for the newly established Auto Únion racing department back in 1934. In the 16-cylinder mid-engined racing car designed by Ferdinand Porsche, the 'Hillclimb King', as they called him in those days, broke several world records on the Avus circuit in Berlin. And that was only the start: he triumphed in most of the season's races and became the unofficial European Champion, a title that was only acknowledged by the sport authorities in the following season. The Monaco Grand Prix was held twice in the 1930s, in 1936 und 1937. It was not one of the venues at which Auto Únion scored a victory. The best placings were achieved by Hans Stuck: third in 1936 and fourth in 1937 at the wheel of the Auto Únion Type C.

Hans-Joachim Stuck can also look back on a career that included Grand Prix racing. He drove a Formula One car for five seasons, and was on the podium twice in a period when German drivers in this supreme motor racing category were few and far between. Stuck, who competed in sports car and German Touring Car races with great success for Audi at the end of the 1980s and in the early 1990s, is about to find himself in charge of a racing-car behemoth with 16 cylinders and a power output of 520 hp. Although Audi Tradition's authentic replica of the original Type C no longer has a chance to reach the unbelievable top speed of 340 kilometres an hour that it recorded in 1936, its fascination nonetheless persists to this day.

At about the same time, Jacky Ickx will be putting on his helmet and preparing to take the wheel of the Auto Únion Type D with its twin-supercharger engine. This car was the final stage in the development work undertaken by the Auto Únion racing department. At the end of the 1938 season a change in the rules was announced; engines had to be limited to a displacement of three litres. This meant a new Auto Únion car with a 12-cylinder engine that, with an output of 485 hp, had no trouble in rocketing the latest Silver Arrow up to 330 km/h. Scarcely any driver on the international motor sport scene can claim as much experience as Jacky Ickx, who drove in Formula One for no fewer than twelve years, was twice runner-up in the world championship and is also famous as 'Mr. Le Mans'. The Belgian driver won the 24-hour race there six times, a record that was expected to last for ever until Tom Kristensen, driving the Audi R8 and later the R10, scored his seventh win. Jacky Ickx drove the Type C at the Monte Carlo event in 2008, and is looking forward to this year's Grand Prix de Monaco Historique: 'To drive such a car here is a privilege!'

This is the seventh time that the Automobile Club de Monaco has staged this competition for historic racing cars on the Formula One circuit in Monte Carlo. This year, historic Formula One cars from 1947 to 1978 and Formula Three cars built in 1984 or earlier will contend with each other in genuine race conditions. The Auto Únion racing cars will start together in two special events, and complete a number of laps at about midday on Saturday May 1 and again on the afternoon of Sunday May 2.

Source - Auto-Union