AUTO UNION Auto Union Aktiengesellschaft, Chemnitz |
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The 1934 Auto Union Grand Prix car was designed by Professor Dr. Ferdinand Porsche. His Father Anton Porsche was a tinsmith. Ferdinand was born 3. September 1875 in Czechoslovakia when still part of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire. At a young age he had an enormous fascination for machinery and electricity. While working in his father's workshop, he visited a technical college at night. In 1893 he worked
at Béla Egger & Co., an electrical company in Vienna, while he was also a part-time student at the Technical University of Vienna. Around 1898 Porsche worked at the Vienna Jacob Lohner Company, who since
1896 built automobiles. In 1900, Porsche became chief designer at Jacob Lohner where he designed the Lohner-Porsche, the first car with electrical wheel hub motors. With this car he started in May 1901
at the 4.2 km Exelberg hill climb near Vienna and won in record time without contest. In 1905 Porsche became chief designer at the Austrian Daimler company, succeeding Paul Daimler, it later became
Austro-Daimler, where Porsche as Technical Director created large sports cars and heavy war machines. His last design, the 1100cc Austro-Daimler "Sascha" for the 1922 Targa Florio, Alfred Neubauer raced
one of them. In 1923 Porsche moved to Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG) following again Paul Daimler as Technical Director created the 1924 Grand Prix Mercedes also the type S, SS and SSK sports cars.
In 1926 DMG merged with Benz to form Daimler-Benz, when Porsche worked with Benz Technical Director Hans Nibel. After disputes arose in 1929, Porsche went to Steyr in Austria, where he created large sports
cars until October 1930 just after the Wall Street crash.
Times were hard during the recession. Porsche travelled back to Stuttgart where he had a house and decided to set up his own design company with Adolf Rosenberger, a wealthy amateur racing driver who agreed to finance the business. Adolf Rosenberger was born 1900 in Pforzheim, Germany, son of a wealthy Jewish family. At age 17, he joined as volunteer the German air force during WW I. After the war he was a technician, businessman, and race driver at Benz, DMG and Daimler-Benz. He drove in many races, also Solitude, Klausen, and several other hill climbs. At the 1926 German Grand Prix, he crashed the 1924 Mercedes and escaped with slight injuries but carried on racing for Mercedes till 1929. As race driver he befriended Dr. Porsche for many years. Despite the existing economic depression, on 1. December 1930 Dr. Ferdinand Porsche with his son-in-law Anton Piëch and Adolf Rosenberger as financier founded the company named - Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche GmbH - Construction office for Motors and Vehicles, started with nine engineers and technicians. The first important customer was Wanderer Works in Chemnitz, requesting a 2-liter mid-size car with 6- and 8-cylinder motors. The fusion of the intertwined four rings (Auto Union) began in 1928 when the Audi Works in Zwickau merged with J.S. Rasmussen AG in Zschopau, who made DKW cars and motorcycles. In August 1932 both these Companies were joined by the Horch Works, also in Zwickau. Late in 1932 Wanderer merged with Horch, AUDI and DKW to form the AUTO UNION AG. Remarkably only race cars were produced and raced under this name while private cars were sold under the four original names. Earlier in 1931 Porsche had discussions with Wanderer Managing Director Baron Klaus von Oertzen, who had shown serious interest in a Grand Prix racing car, pending the new 750 kg formula to be announced at the October 1932 AIACR annual meeting. When Dr. Porsche learned about the new formula, he became very motivated by the challenge the 750 kg formula offered, with the emphasis on weight reduction and no limits on engine design. Porsche then persuaded a friend of Rosenberger to finance the rather uncertain Grand Prix design project and in November 1932 the new company - The Hochleistungs-Fahrzeugbau GmbH - was located on the floor above the design office, with Karl Rabe, Josef Kales and Rosenberger part of the key personnel. They noted down the basic design with Dr. Porsche and his son Ferdinand (Ferry). In 1924 and 25 Rosenberger successfully raced a Benz RH Tropfenwagen (tear-drop car), a mid-engined race car, later also as Benz sports cars. Rosenberger was doubtlessly influential in Porsche's option of a mid-engined design for the Auto Union Gran Prix car. The idea of a tear-drop shape with mid-engine location drew Dr. Porsche, as it promised a much lighter transmission assembly, also improved weight distribution. By shifting the heavy fuel load to the center of the car, it would not change weight distribution during the race. However, there remained the financing problem of changing the drawings into metal. Fortunately, Auto Union welcomed racing to establish a positive image. Before Hitlers ascent to power there was a possibility of the new government funding for motor sport participation and the subsidy of 600,000 Reichsmark was announced in March. On March 17, 1933, Auto Union and Porsche signed an agreement whereby Auto Union would construct and race the mid-engined car designed by Porsche. But Porsche could not work until Auto Union's projected program had received the subsidy. On May 10, 1933, an Auto Union delegation consisting of Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, Auto Union Chairman Baron Klaus von Oertzen (ex-Wanderer) met with Hitler in Berlin. Also present was factory driver Hans Stuck who had talked with Hitler some years earlier when Hitler had promised to furnish him with a car, should he rise to power. However, since the various Auto Union group members had never built a Grand Pric car, Hitler then listened to Professor Porsche who pointed to his personal success in the racing field and explained the design of the racecar with new technical inventions and the expected success. Eventually Hitler agreed that the Ministry should divide the available Reichsmark between Daimler Benz and Auto Union. A few days after the successful Meeting at the Reich Chancellery, Auto Union set up a racing department from scratch at the Horch factory in Zwickau, as they were excellently equipped to produce components. The P-Wagen was constructed from the type 22 engineering drawings sent to them from Stuttgart. The Porsche design bureau cooperated closely with the new Auto Union department which spent the summer of 1933 constructing the prototype chassis and engine. During 1933, Rosenberger left the Porsche company and the country, but before he could emigrate to America he was imprisoned by the Gestapo. Porsche's influence helped him to get free and wealthy Austrian race driver Hans von Veyder-Malberg bought Rosenberger's shares in the Porsche company. Auto Union 's chief racing engineer since 1. June 1933 was Professor Eberan von Eberhorst, whom Ferdinand Porsche had personally invited, to develop the P-Wagen at Zwickau, where the initial batch of five cars was laid down. Team Manager was Willy Walb, a Daimler-Benz employee, who had driven the 1923 RH Tropfenwagen (tear-drop car), as a Benz employee. Hans Stuck was the leading driver, with the Germans Prince Hermann zu Leiningen and August Momberger additional drivers while chief mechanic Wilhelm Sebastian was reserve driver. The first engine was ready by August 33. By November the prototype P-Wagen was on its wheels and Willy Walb carried out preliminary tests on the factory grounds. On 13. November the first car was tested for one week on the Nürburgring South Loop with cold winds blowing. Hans Stuck with wife followed the tests, with Walb driving as he had raced the 1923 RH Tropfenwagen before. On 12. January 1934 Auto Union brought the first car to Berlin, to show a group of prominent guests before Hans Stuck established a lap record of 200 km/h at the AVUS. After the return to the factory, the team prepared the second completed car for tests at Monza on 19. January till early February with Walb, Stuck and zu Leiningen as drivers. On 6. March 1934, Hans Stuck in a streamlined P-Wagen established three new World Records at the Avus in Berlin, the Hour-World Record with 217,110 km/h, the 200 km Record with 218,018 km/h and the 100-Mile Record with 216.875 km/h with top speed of 250 km/h on the straight. |
 Auto Union 1934 ("A")
Starting off as the Porsche "P-wagen" the official name of the car was T 22 and it has later been called type A or type 1934. The chassis composed of two 75mm diameter chrome nickel molybdenum steel tubes with upswept front ends interlinked ladder fashion by four tubular cross members. The independent front suspension consisted of two trailing arms for each wheel, the lower one being connected to a 16mm torsion bar. The torsion bars were set laterally within the front cross tube, connecting to trailing links supporting the hub carriers. The rear suspension consisted of a swing axle with a transverse mounted leaf spring. The steering box was centrally mounted with the steering column being offset 2.5 deg to the right. The 42 cm steering wheel was detatchable. Brakes were drums type Lockheed on all four wheels. The V16 engine was of a simple and straightforward design aimed to achieve the greatest possible power and torque per weight rather than per liter. The cylinders were arranged in two banks in a 45° angle. Each cylinder had two valves placed at 90° and a single plug, slightly offline from the center. The 45° concept made it possible to use a single camshaft in the middle of the vee for all 32 valves working straight on the inlet valves and on the exhaust valves with pushrods. Engine featured detachable cylinder heads and wet type cylinder liners.The pistons were light alloy. The one piece crankshaft ran in lead-bronze main bearings. The big ends too were plain. Lubrication was of dry sump type. A single Roots supercharger mounted vertically behind the block was gear driven off the camdrive. It delivered mixture drawn from two Solex carburettors at 1.66 ata boost. The V16 was slow reving but the mid range torque was an impressive 54 *9.81 = 530 Nm at 2700 rpm. The gearbox was mounted behind the rear axle, a short shaft passing under the differential connected it with the cluch mounted behind the engine. The main fuel tank was mounted between the driver seat and the engine. The radiator was mounted in the front and included an oil cooler at the bottom. The frame was used to carry water to the radiator. That later proved to be a troublesome feature. As a consequence of the mid engine design the driver was placed far forward, his feets being just behind the centre line of the front wheels. The lack of drive shaft made him to sit low. The 170 liter main tank was behind him and a 40 liter reserve tank was over his feet. The refuelling shaft was on the right side. Both tanks were well within the wheelbase and so minimized handling changes during a long race. The fuel capacity was selected to do even the longest GP with just one stop. The duralminum chassis weighed only 45 kg. The cockpit sides were actually of canvas. The 58 % weight over the rear axle made the car oversteer. The combination of a low polar moment and the driver far forward made the car swing far from its axle before the driver was able to feel it, demanding very fast reflexes to get the most out of the car. The car was ready for tests in November 1933. It made its first public appearance on 6 March 1934 at Avus when Hans Stuck broke three world records. There have been lots of speculations about how many cars were built. It seems that the team went through the season with just five cars, three race cars, a T-car and a second reserve, which was later rebuilt to hill climb spec with a small fuel tank. There was also possibly a prototype. So chassis numbers of the race cars should have been 76001-76005 or possibly 76002-76006. The low rev engine made it possible to run it for two races in a row without any major overhaul and during the season the team made full use of the T-car, letting it actually take part in the races whenever possible. One 120 kg "speedlimousine" body existed and one more was built for 1935. For 1935 season three cars (76002-76004) were upgraded with higher compression, improved gearbox and improved brakes. However, the old chassis did not allow installation of the new fuel tank. Chassis 76002 took part in Tripoli and 76003 and 76004 were raced as speedlimousines at Avus. The two other cars were meant to be used as spare parts, but see the B-type text. It is not known which car chassis was used for Varzi at Tunis 1935 but it was clearly a rebuilt A-type. After Avus there are no pictures of any cars with the front reserve tank, so it is possible that the old cars later were totally rebuilt with 105 mm chassis tubes. Victories:
1934 Race number checklist:
Variants:
 Auto Union 1935 ("B")
For 1935 four new cars were built. Later known as the "B-type" the 1935 cars featured over 50 improvements including new longer 105 mm chassis tubes. The cooling system was totally rebuilt with the frame no longer carrying water to the radiator. The two tanks were replaced with a single 210 liter main tank behind the driver, meant to keep fuel for 320 km. The engine had bigger valves and new cylinders, increasing compression from 7 to 8.95. Also added were an improved brake system, an improved gear box and a new rear axle with torsion bars. At Avus new bigger engines with 72.5 mm bore were introduced. Some books have also mentioned that a 5.6 liter variant was tested at the French GP, but I have been unable to confirm this. During the season there were several changes to the cars. The new cooling system heated up the pedals and driver's feet so at the end of the season the tubes were let out on the outside of the car on the right side of the cockpit. It's my understanding that for 1935 cars recieved numbers with "1" as fourth digit (76011-76014 or 76012-76015) creating a gap in the numbering system and fooling some historians to believe there had existed a huge number of chassis. At the end of the season the team had 7 cars (corresponding to the three "A" + four "B" mentioned earlier) plus a hill climb special. So where did the last one come from? Either a fifth "B" chassis was built during the season or then the fourth "A" was never scrapped as planned. For 1936 four old cars were retained (probably the "B" types), two to be rebuilt as reserve cars and two to hill climb cars. Victories:
1935 Race number checklist:
Variants:
 Auto Union C
Later known as the "C-type" the 1936 cars featured a number of improvements including new rear supension and an enlarged 6 liter engine wih increases made in compression ratio, supercharger pressure and r.p.m. The power was increased to 520 bhp while the greatest torgue 855 Nm was found at 2500 r.p.m. from earlier 650 Nm @ 3000 r.p.m. Eight cars were built while of the seven old cars two were to be used as practice cars, two as hill climb cars and the fifth assigned for junior driver tests. The last two old cars and the old hill climb car were scrapped and used as spare parts. That way Auto Union could have two teams of four cars plus a practice car used in turn. As the formula continued into 1937 the C type was retained for that year. Victories:
1936 Race number checklist:
1937 Race number checklist:
Variants:
 Auto Union D
Victories:
1938 Race number checklist:
1939 Race number checklist:
Variants:
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