AUTO UNION MASTERPIECES

Auto Union classic cars

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Auto Union was a joint venture of four German automobile manufacturers, established in 1932 in Zwickau, Saxony, during the Great Depression.

The trademark of Auto Union was a symbol of four overlapping rings, symbolizing the four member companies (all four in a line, in an attempt to avoid confusion with the 5 Olympic rings). The trademarks and company names of the member companies - Horch, Audi, DKW and Wanderer - were continued; the four ring logo was used only in racing. The four ring logo of Auto Union is still a trademark, and now used by Audi. They continued to market the two-stroke engined DKW brand until 1964.

1936 Auto Union Wanderer

It is best known for its racing team (Auto Union Rennabteilung, based in Zwickau), which was the main opponent of Mercedes-Benz in 1930s Grand Prix motor racing. The Silver Arrows of these two teams dominated not only 1930s car racing, but set records that would take decades to beat. For example, it took Formula One Grand Prix until the early 1980s to again reach the power levels of these cars.

The Auto Union racing cars

The Auto Union race cars were designed by the famous engineer Ferdinand Porsche; they were based an earlier design he had done using a mid-engined layout similar to the famous 1923 Benz Tropfenwagen, or "Teardrop" aerodynamic design. (That unique car was built under the direction of Max Wagner, who was now at Daimler-Benz, and was raced by his current business partner, Adolf Rosenberger.)

The mid-engined cars, where the drivers sat in front of the engines, were unusual; it took 30 years until this concept, made famous in these cars, became generally adopted in motor racing. This was mostly because the cars were said to be hard to master, which was in part due to the swing axle rear suspension design initially adopted by Porsche (relatively advanced for its day, it is now utterly obsolete because of its many problems), although other factors (such as simple unfamiliarity with the very different handling characteristics) were also involved in creating that reputation.

Cover of Road & Track magazine showing Auto Union V16 engine in a tubular chassis

The cars used supercharged engines that eventually produced almost 550 horse-power (which also contributed toward the handling difficulties, as it promoted the oversteer which the cars already had in abundance). The engine was originally the V16 engine that Porsche had started designing earlier; when, starting in 1938, the maximum engine displacement for Grand Prix cars was limited to 3 litres for blown engines, it became a V12. It was originally designed to 6 litre specifications, but would start at 4,360 cc and 295 bhp. It had two cylinder blocks, inclined at an angle of 45 degrees, with a single overhead camshaft to operate all 32 valves. The engine was designed to provide optimum torque at low engine speeds. (Bernd Rosemeyer later drove one around the Nürburgring in a single gear, to prove the engine was flexible enough to do it!)

The suspension would be all-independent but, unlike the Mercedes, would use parallel trailing arms and torsion bars at the front, while at the rear it initially used swing half-axles and a transverse leaf spring, the latter eventually being replaced by torsion bars, with radius arms added to absorb the torque. For the 3-litre V12 car, the rear suspension would be replaced with a de Dion suspension, following the lead of Mercedes-Benz but it was too late to do anything about the reputation the cars had gained.

The fuel tank was located in the center of the car, directly behind the driver (who would be placed well towards the front), so that the car's front-rear weight distribution would remain unchanged as the fuel was used - the exact same location used in modern open-wheel racing cars, and for the same reason. The chassis tubes were initially used as water carriers from the radiator to the engine, but this was eventually abandoned after they often sprung small leaks.

Much has been written about the difficult handling characteristics of this car, but its tremendous power and acceleration were undeniable - a driver could induce wheelspin at over 100 mph! A specialized hill climbing version of the car, equipped with dual rear wheels on each side to provide the traction needed to transfer this power, was built.

V16 Auto Union type 'D' hill-climb car with twin rear wheels

Additional work was needed on the car's cornering behavior; accelerating out of a corner would cause the inside rear wheel to spin furiously. This was much abated by the use of a Ferry Porsche innovation, a ZF manufactured limited slip differential, introduced at the end of the 1935 season. The body was subjected to strenuous testing in the wind tunnel of the German Institute for Aerodynamics.

Background

Auto Union Chairman, Klaus, Baron von Oertzen, wanted a showpiece project to announce the new brand. At the 1933 Berlin Motor Show, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler announced two new programs:

The people's car: a project that became the KdF car

A state-sponsored motor racing programme: to develop a "high speed German automotive industry," the foundation of which would be an annual sum of 500,000 Reichsmarks to Mercedes-Benz

At fellow director's Adolf Rosenberger insistence, von Oertzen met with Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, who had done work for him before, and developed his own P-Wagen project racing car based on the new 750 kg (1,700 lb) formula.

German racing driver Hans Stuck Sr. had met Hitler before he became Chancellor, and not being able to gain a seat at Mercedes, accepted the invitation of Rosenberger to join him, von Oertzen, and Porsche in approaching the Chancellor. In a meeting in the Reich Chancellory, Hitler agreed with Porsche that for the glory of Germany, it would be better for two companies to develop the project, resulting in Hitler agreeing to pay ₤40,000 for the country's best racing car of 1934, as well as an annual stipend of 250,000 Reichsmarks (₤20,000) each for Mercedes and Auto Union. (In time, this would climb to ₤250,000.) This highly annoyed Mercedes, who had already developed their Mercedes-Benz W25, which nevertheless was gratified, its racing program having financial difficulties since 1931. It resulted in a heated exchange both on and off the racing track between the two companies until World War II.

Having garnered state funds, Auto Union bought Hochleistungs Motor GmbH and hence the P-Wagen Project for 75,000 Reichsmarks, relocating the company to Chemnitz.

Design

The Auto Union racing cars types A to D were built as Grand Prix racing cars from 1934 to 1939. They resembled the earlier Benz Tropfenwagen, also built in part by Rumpler engineers, The only Grand Prix racers to wear Auto Union's four-ringed logo, they were particularly dominant in 1936. From 1935 to 1937, Auto Union cars car won 25 races, driven by Ernst von Delius, Bernd Rosemeyer, Hans Stuck Sr., and Achille Varzi. Much has been written about the difficult handling characteristics of this car, but its tremendous power and acceleration were undeniable — a driver could induce wheelspin at over 100 mph (160 km/h).

The cars used supercharged piston engines; eventually producing almost 550 hp (410 kW; 560 PS), designed to provide optimum torque at low engine speeds. Rosemeyer would later drive one around the Nürburgring in a single gear, to prove the engine was flexible enough to do it. The fuel tank was located in the centre of the car, directly behind the driver (who would be placed well towards the front), so the car's front-rear weight distribution would remain unchanged as fuel was used — exactly the same location used in modern open-wheel racing cars, and for the same reason. The chassis tubes were initially used as water carriers from the radiator to the engine, but this was eventually abandoned after they often sprung small leaks.
Racing results

The list of drivers for the initial 1934 season was headed by Stuck; he won the German, Swiss, and Czechoslovakian events, along with wins in a number of hill climbs, becoming European Mountain Champion.

In 1935, the engine had been enlarged to 5 L (305 cu in) displacement, producing 370 bhp (276 kW; 375 PS). Achille Varzi joined the team and won the Tunis Grand Prix and the Coppa Acerbo. Stuck won the Italian Grand Prix, plus his usual collection of hill-climb wins, again taking the European Mountain Championship. The new sensation, Rosemeyer, won the Czech Grand Prix.

Stuck also managed to break speed records, reaching 199 mph (320 km/h) on an Italian autostrada in a closed-cockpit streamliner. Lessons learned from this streamlining were later applied to the T80 land speed record car.

1939 Type C/D V16 hillclimb car

For 1936, the engine had grown to a full 6 L (366 cu in), and was now producing 520 bhp (388 kW; 527 PS); in the hands of Rosemeyer and his team-mates, the Auto Union Type C dominated the racing world. Rosemeyer won the Eifelrennen, German, Swiss, and Italian Grands Prix, as well as the Coppa Acerbo. He was crowned European Champion (Auto Union's only win of the driver's championship), and also took the European Mountain Championship. Varzi won the Tripoli Grand Prix, while Stuck placed second in the Tripoli and German Grands Prix, and Ernst von Delius took second in the Coppa Acerbo.

In 1937, the car was basically unchanged and did surprisingly well against the new Mercedes-Benz W125, winning five races to the seven of Mercedes-Benz. Rosemeyer took the Eifel and Donington Grands Prix, the Coppa Acerbo, and the Vanderbilt Cup. Rudolf Hasse won the Belgian Grand Prix.

In addition to the new 3 L (183 cu in) formula, 1938 brought other challenges, principally the death of Rosemeyer early in the year, in an attempt on the land speed record on a German autobahn. Tazio Nuvolari joined the team, and won the Italian and Donington Grands Prix, in what was otherwise a thin year for the team, other than yet another European Mountain Championship for Stuck.

In 1939, as war clouds gathered over Europe, Nuvolari won the Yugoslavia Grand Prix in Belgrade, while Hermann P. Müller won the 1939 French Grand Prix.

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