Audi's Auto Union Lucca
On February 15, 1935, Hans Stuck piloted a teardrop-shaped silver racer down a sealed section of Italian autostrada outside Lucca and hit 203 mph, making it the fastest road racing car in the world. The car was Auto Union's answer to Mercedes-Benz in one of motorsport's most obsessive eras, when the two German giants waged a very public war for speed records across European highways. Now Audi Tradition has brought the Lucca back. Built over three years by British restoration specialists Crosthwaite & Gardiner from archival photos and historical documents, the Auto Union Lucca recreation is finished in cellulose silver with the original's signature fin-like tail, teardrop wheel arches, and sealed cockpit canopy that gave it a drag coefficient of 0.43. Under the hood sits a supercharged 16-cylinder engine displacing 366 cubic inches and producing 513 horsepower at 4,500 rpm, running on a period-correct blend of 50% methanol, 40% premium unleaded, and 10% toluene. It will make its first dynamic public appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this July before joining Audi's historic Silver Arrow collection permanently.
