Audi Tradition unveils record-breaking car in Italy: Auto Union Lucca joins the Silver Arrow family
1930s. Audi Tradition has recreated the spectacular record-breaking car and will unveil it for the first time in early May in – aptly – the Italian city of Lucca. On February 15, 1935, the car set a widely acclaimed flying-start mile record on a straight section of the autostrada near Lucca, achieving a calculated average speed of 320.267 km/h and a measured top speed of 326.975 km/h. The Rennlimousine, a period term meaning “racing sedan,” was completed in the spring of 2026 and will join the legendary Silver Arrows in AUDI AG’s historic vehicle collection.
The 1930s see an international race to set records. Speed is far more than a mundane measurement – Grand Prix races and the constant breaking of speed records are followed and celebrated almost obsessively by the media and the public. Over the years, Germany becomes the scene of fierce competition among brands, drivers, and technologies: the star versus the four rings, Caracciola and von Brauchitsch versus Stuck and Rosemeyer, front
The age of the Silver Arrows
Motor racing appealed to the masses between the wars, particularly the wide range of club competitions and top-class events. It was obvious to everyone that sporting success had a major impact on sales. Following the 1932 merger of Saxony's four automotive companies, Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer, it was important to promote the new Auto Union name. In this regard, motor racing offered the ideal platform to endorse the message. Ambition allowed no other choice than to compete at the very highest level: Grand Prix racing.
A new start with technical ingenuity
The whole venture took on a new dimension in autumn 1932, when the rules for Grand Prix races from 1934 on were announced. The weight restriction of 750 kg required technical ingenuity: ideal circumstances for a fresh start with a man like Ferdinand Porsche. The most exciting part of his concept was the "rear engine", from today’s perspective a mid-engine, which is still avant-garde to this day. Although this layout was not
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An impressive highlight of the new exhibition at the Audi museum mobile: A replica of the “Manuela”, a Horch 853 Coupé. In 1937, Auto Union had this luxury car made for Bernd Rosemeyer, its most famous racing car driver.
Audi Tradition in Goodwood: revival of the Silver Arrow era
Company history
eventful history of Audi began in the 19th century, with the first chapter written by August Horch, one of the German pioneers of automotive engineering. After graduating from the Technical Academy in Mittweida, Saxony, he initially worked in engine construction and later as operations manager in motor vehicle production at the Carl Benz company in Mannheim. On 14 November 1899, with the establishment of the company A. Horch & Cie. in Cologne, he laid the foundation for what would become a world-famous brand.
A second chance – from Horch to Audi
In 1902, Horch relocated his company to Reichenbach in Saxony. And in 1904, he registered it as a joint-stock company and moved to Zwickau. However, just five years later, he left the company due to differences of opinion and founded a new car company. Because he was not allowed to use his own name again, it was translated into Latin. The idea of using the imperative form of the Latin word for “to hear” – that is, “Audi!” which in German would
History of the Four Rings
AUDI AG can look back on a very eventful and varied history; its tradition of car and motorcycle manufacturing goes right back to the 19th century. The Audi and Horch brands in the town of Zwickau in Saxony, Wanderer in Chemnitz and DKW in Zschopau all enriched Germany’s automobile industry and contributed to the development of the motor vehicle. These four brands came together in 1932 to form Auto Union AG, the second largest motor-vehicle manufacturer in Germany in terms of total production volume. The new company chose as its emblem four interlinked rings, which even today remind us of the four founder companies. After the Second World War the Soviet occupying power requisitioned and dismantled Auto Union AG’s production facilities in Saxony.
Leading company executives made their way to Bavaria, and in 1949 established a new company, Auto Union GmbH, which continued the tradition associated with the four-ring emblem. In 1969, Auto Union GmbH and NSU merged to form Audi NSU Auto Union
Home again: the last Auto Union Type D twin-supercharger Silver Arrow returns to Audi
Audi Tradition buys back the second “Karassik restoration” car Auto Union Type D built in 1939, then lost in the USSR for many years Thomas Frank, Head of Audi Tradition: “One of the most emotional moments in our heritage work for AUDI AG”
“This is one of the most emotional moments in our heritage work for AUDI AG – we have come full circle,” says Thomas Frank, Head of Audi Tradition. A few weeks ago, the car manufacturer was able to repurchase an extremely rare Auto Union Silver Arrow racing car – consisting largely of original parts. It is the Auto Union twin-supercharger Type D dating from 1939, and is one of the two legendary “Karassik cars”. AUDI AG now owns three of the five Auto Union racing cars that can claim to be original.
The Silver Arrow legend was born in the 1930s. In 1934, Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz appeared on the international motor racing scene with German racing cars of totally new design, with a silver finish and futuristic appearance, and were immediately successful
H.P. Müller motorcycle world champion for NSU
and was one of the German motor racers who were prevented from enjoying a truly great career by the Second World War.
H.P. Müller, born in 1909 in Bielefeld, moved to Zschopau (Saxony) in 1935 in order to drive for DKW as a test driver and as a works driver at Auto Union AG. He had already become German motorcycle champion before he switched to racing cars in 1937 and became one of the heroes of the legendary supercharger era. Having matured alongside Bernd Rosemeyer in the DKW motorcycle team, Müller was earmarked as Rosemeyer’s mid-term successor in the Auto Union Silver Arrow after the hero of this time suffered a fatal accident in 1938. H.P. Müller won the French Grand Prix in 1939 and was leading the season’s European Grand Prix championship – the predecessor of what is now the Formula One World Championship – when the war broke out. Tragic for H.P. Müller: no more races took place and the National Socialist government named the 1939 European Champion – Hermann Lang of Mercedes-Benz
Audi Tradition in an Auto Union Silver Arrow at the silver jubilee
Festival of Speed in England Audi Tradition takes an Auto Union Type C racing car and a Wanderer Streamline Special to the biggest historic motor racing event
Silver cars on their way to the silver jubilee: the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the world's largest historic motor racing event, celebrates its 25th edition from 12 to 15 July. Audi Tradition is participating in a fitting way with two silver-colored cars from its more than 100 years of history. An Auto Union Type C racing car from 1936 and a 1939 Wanderer Streamline Special will be competing in the event.
For the 200,000 visitors who are expected at Goodwood, the Auto Union Type C is an old friend – the model's presence at the Festival of Speed has always been one of the highlights of the event. With its 16 cylinders, 520 hp, top speed of 340 km/h and the engine located behind the driver, this racing car was viewed as a futuristic marvel when it was first presented in 1936. In the same year, Bernd Rosemeyer won the European driving
Motorsport
combination. Audi has over a century’s worth of motorsport history and this lays the foundation for the brand’s success in the premium segment with sportiness, advanced technology and emotive design. From the early beginnings to the legendary silver arrows, the success with the quattro drivetrain in rallying, touring car racing, Le Mans, DTM, Formula E and the Dakar Rally, the four rings have triumphed with race victories and important championship titles with its motorsport projects. 2026 is the debut season for the Audi Revolut F1® Team in the FIA Formula 1® World Championship. In addition, the models from Audi Sport customer racing continue competing worldwide in the hands of customer teams, and Audi Sport racing legends offers selected historic racing cars from LMP and DTM for sale to collectors.
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