In 2023, Audi built the Auto Union Type 52 based on a study it had done in the early 1930s. The Type 52 has a 16-cylinder engine that comes from Auto Union’s well-known Silver Arrow race cars. The sleek race car has a cabin with three seats. Although most car companies use the Goodwood Festival of Speed to show off their newest and most high-tech performance cars, Audi decided to go back in time. Auto Union, which came before Audi, ruled Grand Prix racing with their Silver Arrow race cars in the 1930s. At the same time, the company started making a version of the car that could be driven on public roads. It had the same 16-cylinder engine. The Type 52 didn’t exist, but Audi has built a model of it from scratch using information from the past. Reading old books about history When Audi, DKW, Horch, and Wanderer united in 1932, they formed Auto Union. The company that made cars asked Ferdinand Porsche, who later created the Porsche brand, to build a race car for the next year’s new Grand Prix rules. In European racing, the Auto Union Silver Arrows became very popular. The 1934 Auto Union Type A was the first Grand Prix car with the engine placed behind the driver. At the same time, the design teams at Ferdinand Porsche and Auto Union started working on a similar racing car that could be driven on the street. To compete in endurance races like the 24 Hours of Le Mans or long-distance races like the Mille Miglia, people had to drive the Auto Union Type 52, which was also called the Schnellsportwagen. The first sketches were finished in 1933, but the idea was shelved in 1935 because the full-size test car was never built. However, the research work and blueprints were kept in the archives, which means that Audi can make the car right now. The idea for a race car The Type 52 was made so that many of its technical parts could be used on the Silver Arrow race cars. The engine is placed in the middle of the ladder frame chassis. The 16-cylinder, 4.4-liter monster engine that was shared with the Type A was meant to make 197 hp and 322 lb-ft of torque. Instead of using race fuel, the Type 52 would have had a lower compression ratio in the engine and a lower gear ratio for the Roots supercharger so that it could run on standard gasoline. The race car had a little more power, but the Type 52 was still predicted to go as fast as 124 mph. The 212-inch-long behemoth looks great with its teardrop-shaped fenders, big grille, and rounded fenders that make it more aerodynamic. It’s different from the race cars because it now has a trunk, headlights, a roof, and room for two extra tires. The Type 52, like the McLaren F1, has three seats. The driver sits in the middle, and the two back seats are moved to the sides. When it’s empty, the Schnellsportwagen was made to weigh 2,866 pounds. It used the Grand Prix racecar’s engine and five-speed transmission, but experts changed the suspension system. The Type 52 doesn’t have crosswise leaf springs or friction dampers. Instead, it has longitudinal torsion spring suspension and hydraulic dampers. The 29-gallon gas tank is under the seats, and drum brakes are on all four wheels. Putting together Type 52 Audi hired experts in old race cars using the records that were still around. In 2023, Crosthwaite and Gardiner will finish the Schnellsportwagen. Lots of pictures and papers were lost during WWII, so there are no pictures of a Type 52 model. While making the modern replica, each part was individually crafted and tailored, which showed that the original Auto Union engineers would have had to make some changes to get the Type 52 into production. For instance, the wheelbase had to be stretched beyond its original size to make room for the front chassis, engine, and transmission. The interior was designed to look like Auto Union race cars, but it needed to be given more direction. They also picked Cellulose Silver, which is the color Grand Prix cars use, because the paperwork didn’t say what color the Type 52 was painted when it was bought. Audi also didn’t follow the Auto Union engineers’ original plan for the engine. Instead, they chose to use the 6.0-liter 16-cylinder engine from the Auto Union Type C, which makes 512 horsepower. This means that regular gasoline must be switched out for a special methanol mixture in order for the engine to work. The end product weighs 3197 pounds, which is more than Auto Union thought it would. Tom Kristensen, who has won nine Le Mans races, and Hans-Joachim Stuck, who has won two, will take turns driving this one-of-a-kind machine up the hill climb at this week’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
