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A quadruple victory by the white supercharged six-cylinder cars in their class at the first German Grand Prix on the AVUS circuit in Berlin in 1926 stands out in the story of NSU racing between the two world wars. In this ninth episode on the history of NSU to mark the brand’s 150th anniversary, Audi Tradition presents the pre-war NSU Type 6/60 PS racing car. NSU participated in international automobile races as early as 1908. The company’s participation in the 1909 Prince Henry Tour — and numerous endurance and reliability races — was a great success. After World War I, the Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungsstraße (AVUS) opened in Berlin in 1921. The circuit, which was closed to public traffic until 1940, served as the first race and test track in Germany to demonstrate the competitiveness of the country’s automotive industry. A “small” NSU, the NSU 8/24 PS, won its class at the first AVUS race in September 1921. The basic design of the racing version was the same as the production model; all the Neckarsulm-based company had to do was modify the car slightly to create an open-top racing two-seater. The company, then known as Neckarsulmer Fahrzeugwerke Aktiengesellschaft, returned to the drawing board and developed the NSU Type 6/60 PS specifically for racing. This racing car was NSU’s first six-cylinder model. The “6” designated its “tax horsepower”, which was necessary for classification in its tax class. The open two-seater had an output of 60 PS and weighed 830 kilograms (1,830 lb) with a top speed of 175 km/h (109 mph). It was built in 1925 and 1926 – regulations of the time meant it came only in white, the designated color for German racing. In 1925, the Neckarsulm-based company entered one of the new six-cylinder supercharged racing cars in the 450-kilometer International Taunus Race – and won.

75 years ago, the Auto Union Silver Arrows went to the starting grid for the first time on the Avus circuit in Berlin Auto Union and Mercedes Benz dominated international motor racing between 1934 and 1939 75 years ago, one of the most dramatic chapters in the whole of motor sport history began. On May 27, 1934 the German racing cars that were soon to acquire the nickname “Silver Arrow” were entered for their first race, on the Avus racetrack in Berlin. Although neither Auto Union, the company from which Audi in its present-day form developed later, nor Mercedes Benz won that event, it was not long before these two manufacturers began to dominate international Grand Prix racing, a situation that prevailed until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. It seems almost incredible today, but by 1936 the Auto Union racing cars were reaching speeds of up to 380 kilometres an hour on the long straights of the Avus circuit – truly, the birth of a legend. The racing cars bearing the four-ring emblem were entered for the race to be held on Berlin’s Avus circuit on May 27, 1934. Driven by Hans Stuck, August Momberger and Hermann Prince zu Leiningen, this was their first appearance in competition. They were given a striking silver paint finish, but possibly their most remarkable feature was that the engine was located behind the driver. 1934 was the first motor racing season in which the designers had to comply with a new formula: the cars were limited to a total dry weight of 750 kilograms, but the engines could be of any size and there was no restriction on the type of fuel. Ferdinand Porsche was the brain behind the Auto Union racing cars, so to speak. He designed them for the new motor-vehicle manufacturing group of that name that had been created in 1932 by a merger of the Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer brands, and supervised their construction and testing from March 1933 onwards at Auto Union’s racing department, which was located at the Horch factory in Zwickau.

After test drives in October 1934 with the Grand Prix racing car on the AVUS in Berlin, the Auto Union racing department started developing the vehicle that would later be known as the “Lucca” car. Just a few weeks later, in December 1934, it was presented during initial test drives on the AVUS. The record attempts were planned in Hungary but were moved to Italy at the last minute due to bad weather. The one-kilometer and one-mile records were targeted to be broken with a flying start on a five-kilometer stretch between Pescia and Altopascio. Test drives took place on February 14, 1935, and the next day, on February 15, the car piloted by Hans Stuck performed as planned and was heralded the “world’s fastest road-going car.” With a speed of 326.975 km/h reached near Lucca, the vehicle broke 26 world records and 13 international class records. The “Anniversary Dates 2025” booklet contains several additional anniversaries to discover, including 25 years of the first Audi victory at Le Mans and 25 years of Audi allroad quattro, 35 years of Audi duo hybrid vehicles, 40 years of fully galvanized bodies in large-scale automotive engineering, 50 years of the Audi 80 GTE, 55 years of the Audi 100 Coupé S, 60 years of the NSU Prinz 1000 TT and NSU Type 110, 75 years of the first post-war DKW passenger car, and 90 years of the Horch 850 series. A complete overview of the anniversary booklet is available in the Audi MediaCenter.

The gastronomical experience comprises the live cooking market restaurant, the AVUS fine dining restaurant and the Bar & Lounge. Companies from across Germany value the conference area with conference rooms of various capacities. AudiStream - experience the world of Audi With AudiStream, interested parties can get an online glimpse into the world of Audi. In a variety of interactive streams, tour guides lead them through the production sites in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm, for example. Pictures

Culinary delights await guests in the Market Restaurant, fine-dining restaurant AVUS, and the Bar & Lounge. Experience offers around the Audi Piazza The customer center is located next to the restaurants. This is where customers pick up their vehicles in the “experiential pickup” area. The same building also houses the Audi shop and Audi arthouse cinema, which is considered one of the most important venues for sophisticated cinematic film art in the region. The Market and Customer building – a triangular structure with a glass facade on the south side – houses office space for employees and a spacious foyer with room for a vehicle exhibition showcasing the latest Audi models. All Audi Forum Ingolstadt buildings are arranged around the Audi Piazza, a large space for hosting events and activities. The adjoining Audi Piazzetta, with its lawn and water features, offers space in which to relax.

The Auto Union racecar made its first official appearance at the AVUS in Berlin on March 6, 1934, with Hans Stuck at the wheel. A few weeks later, on May 27, 1934, the Auto Union Type A, as it was called internally, made its debut on the international racing scene, ushering in the booming era of the Auto Union Silver Arrows.

The streamlined car made its debut at the AVUS race in 1937, where it achieved record speeds of over 400 km/h (249 mph) in numerous record-breaking runs. The new special exhibition “Streamlined” at the Audi museum mobile presents the research and development, the driving personalities, and the basic aerodynamic concepts of the period up to 1945. Rare and unique vehicles are also on display – more than a dozen large exhibits. They document the remarkable combination of efficiency, sustainability, and design unique to aerodynamics. Stefan Felber, curator of the Audi museum mobile: “The highlight of our cross-brand special exhibition is the Audi Type C Jaray, which was completed in 2023. Experts had assumed that this car was built by Paul Jaray, based on a Audi Type K. During preparations for the special exhibition, the exhibition team’s research proved that this vehicle must have been based on an Audi Type C.” From December 1, anyone interested in how aerodynamics developed after 1945 can dive into its post-war history at the August Horch Museum in Zwickau. Visitors to the museum can look forward to almost two dozen large exhibits and other models in the follow-up exhibition titled “Form vollendet.” Thomas Stebich, who is responsible for both the Audi museum mobile and the August Horch Museum, emphasizes: “Our two-part exhibition series in both museums will present for the first time a comprehensive overview of the subject of aerodynamics from its beginnings to the present day.” From July 2024, the second part of the exhibition titled “Form vollendet” will move to the Audi museum mobile in Ingolstadt.

On the long straights of the Avus circuit in Berlin in 1937, Rosemeyer’s car was timed at 380 km/h. The Second World War put an abrupt end to what had become known as the supercharger era. Mercedes-Benz was able to rescue almost all its Silver Arrow cars after Germany’s total collapse, but fate was less kind to Auto Union. Zwickau was occupied by the Soviet Army, Auto Union was liquidated and the factories shut down. The Russian occupying forces found the Silver Arrows where they had been stored: in a mine building above ground. The cars were carried off to the Soviet Union as part of Germany’s reparation payments, and all trace of them was soon lost in that vast country. The vehicles best able to pay tribute to Auto Union AG’s great motor sport heritage were thus regarded as irrecoverably lost by the new Auto Union GmbH (today’s AUDI AG) when it was established in Ingolstadt in 1949. The Cold War had already begun and the Iron Curtain was firmly in place. Only one Auto Union Type C remained accessible; it had been presented to the Deutsches Museum in Munich before the war, but was later damaged in a bomb attack there. At the end of the 1970, the first rumours were heard to the effect that one of the long lost Auto Union racing cars had been located somewhere in the vast region of the former Soviet Union. Paul Karassik, an American collector of high-class classic vehicles, came to Europe with his wife Barbara, whose family came from Germany, and began to search for the car. As a small boy he had been a spectator in Belgrade at the last Grand Prix held before the Second World War – an unforgettable experience. Later, after emigrating to the USA and becoming a wealthy man, it proved to be useful to him in his search that he came from a White Russian family, had grown up in Serbia and spoke fluent Russian.