Auto Union Type A 1934

[Pete05]

Until the moment the first Auto Union appeared, the established world of motor racing hardly seemed to appreciate the significance of the first reports of the P-Wagen or to comprehend the freedom that the 750 kg formula gave to designers. This car, from the drawing board of Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, a talented and original designer, took shape with the stimulus of an obsessive spirit of nationalism, and with the contemporary Mercedes-Benz it was to make nonsense of preconceived ideas about Grand Prix cars.
The Auto Union consortium of minor manufacturers, Horch, Audi, Wanderer and DKW, was formed in 1932. Late in that same year, Dr. Porsche began work on an independent design for a P-Wagen racing car for the Hockleistungs Fahrzeugbau offshoot of the Porsche Buro, which in turn was heavily involved in design work for Auto Union. In mid 1933, Auto Union committed itself to this racing car project, which thus was to become the Auto Union Type A. Later that year the first car was completed at the Horch factory.
The Type A was thoroughly unorthodox. It was not the first mid-engined Grand Prix car (Benz had essayed their Tropfenwagen in 1923) but it was to become the first mid-engined car to win a Grand Prix. That success did not come instantly, nor was it to be prolific in the first two seasons. Hans Stuck was the team's leading driver. Better known at first as a leading hill climb exponent than as a racing driver, he perhaps had fewer ingrained seat-of-the-pants inhibitions about this mid-engined racing car, and certainly he was the only driver to come to terms with it in it's first season. His convincing victory in the 1934 German Grand Prix quashed contemporary speculation about the roadholding shortcomings of the Auto Union. These did exist, but owed more to the rear suspension than to the position of the engine in the chassis, and were perhaps inspired by a mistrust of novelty. Stuck went on to win the Swiss and Czech Grands Prix in 1934. The team also went hill climbing and record breaking. (Stuck won the European Mountain Championship, and his victory at Mont Ventoux in 1934 was the first for a German Grand Prix car in France since 1914.) These were important sidelines for both German teams in the 1930's. Stuck actually set the world one-hour and sundry distance records at Avus before the Auto Union was first raced, and set the seal on it's first season with five more records.
The Type A was a rare car, as novel under the skin as it was in outward appearance. It had a tubular frame, with it's main side members initially used to carry coolant between the nose radiator and engine. The body was mainly in light alloy, but some unstressed side 'panels' were doped fabric at first, to save weight. The engine was located behind the cockpit, and fuel was carried between cockpit and engine so that handling remained constant whatever the fuel load. The independent front suspension torsion-bar system had been introduced on a Porsche-designed Wanderer. At the rear, a swing axle and transverse spring arrangement was to prove one of the weak design features because the inherent swing axle cornering tuck-in aggravated problems encountered by drivers seated so far forward in the chassis.
The engine was a light, compact and narrow V16 with single camshaft in the 45 degree eve which operated the inlet valves directly and the exhaust valves by pushrods which passed over the cylinder heads. The arrangement proved acceptable in a unit that was relatively slow-revving. It had excellent torque qualities however and thus was unusually flexible for a racing engine. The Roots-type supercharger was mounted at the back. Drive was taken to a five-speed gearbox behind the rear axle line, and from there forward to the differential.

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine
45 degree V16

Location
Mid, longitudinally mounted

Construction
Aluminium block and heads

Bore/Stroke
68 mm x 75 mm

Capacity
4360 cc / 266.1 cu in

Compression
7.0:1

Valvetrain
2 valves per cylinder, OHV

Fuel feed
2 x Solex Carburettors

Aspiration
Roots-type supercharger

Power
295 bhp / 220 kW @ 4500 rpm

Torque
530 Nm / 391 ft lbs @ 2700 rpm

Transmission
5 speed manual

Chassis
Aluminium body on chrome molybdenum tubular ladder frame

Front suspension
Independent by trailing links, torsion bars and shock absorbers

Rear suspension
Independent by swing axles, torsion bars, transverse leaf spring and shock absorbers

Steering
Worm and rocker

Brakes
Drums, all-round

Dimensions
Weight: 750 kg (1653.5 lbs)
Wheelbase: 2845 mm (112")
Front track: 1321 mm (52")
Rear track: 1321 mm (52")

http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/spec/619/Auto-Union-Type-A.html

http://www.grandprixhistory.org/auto_union1.htm

http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/c3.htm

http://www.stasher.us/the_silver_arrows.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto_Union_racing_car

http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_113086/printArticle.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Arrows

http://8w.forix.com/au31-35.html

http://8w.forix.com/au-lineup.html

 

[Grand Prix]

The Type A was one of the most groundbreaking race cars of the 20th century with its mid-engined layout. Also one of the few successful race cars in history with a 16 cylinder engine.

With 295hp and 750kg the Type A was quite formidable to drive. Any inclusions of open wheeled Auto Unions would be a great challenge to master. Would also be nice if the Alfa Romeo P3 and Mercedes-Benz W25 were included alongside the Type A for online races.

 

[Pete05]

The Type A was one of the most groundbreaking race cars of the 20th century with its mid-engined layout. Also one of the few successful race cars in history with a 16 cylinder engine.

With 295hp and 750kg the Type A was quite formidable to drive. Any inclusions of open wheeled Auto Unions would be a great challenge to master. Would also be nice if the Alfa Romeo P3 and Mercedes-Benz W25 were included alongside the Type A for online races.

These cars were amazing & so were the guys that took 'control' of them. Amazing bravery & skill

I've said it before elsewhere but, imagine if they built replicas for the current crop of F1 drivers, for a one-make race at the Nurburgring (which is a lot safer than in the 1930's). How many do you think would turn up?

 

[Grand Prix]

These cars were amazing & so were the guys that took 'control' of them. Amazing bravery & skill

I've said it before elsewhere but, imagine if they built replicas for the current crop of F1 drivers, for a one-make race at the Nurburgring (which is a lot safer than in the 1930's). How many do you think would turn up?

It's an interesting idea. Kind of like what the NHL does with their special outdoor ice hockey games, players dress in their team's vintage sweaters and the ice surface is quite different to play on, especially if it snows. It's like the old days of ice hockey but with modern safety equipment, pretty cool stuff.

They could fit roll bars and seat belts to the replicas to make them safer of course, and paint them in the drivers' national racing colours with their driver numbers. Maybe paint them in their teams' sponsorship liveries if they had to. I was thinking they could use Bugatti 35 replicas in a special race at Monaco as a tribute to the first race there, but Mercedes W25 or Auto Union Type A replicas would be good for Nurburgring.

Sadly, such a race is probably unlikely. I think more than a few F1 drivers would like such a concept (Alonso especially seemed to enjoy thrashing a 1950s Ferrari F1 around Silverstone a while back, and Rosberg and Hamilton have driven Silver Arrows for Mercedes in publicity stunts), but I don't think they would be allowed to race them, because of sponsors and teams not wanting to put their drivers' health in jeopardy, etc. Hope I'm wrong though.

 

[Pete05]

It's an interesting idea. Kind of like what the NHL does with their special outdoor ice hockey games, players dress in their team's vintage sweaters and the ice surface is quite different to play on, especially if it snows. It's like the old days of ice hockey but with modern safety equipment, pretty cool stuff.

They could fit roll bars and seat belts to the replicas to make them safer of course, and paint them in the drivers' national racing colours with their driver numbers. Maybe paint them in their teams' sponsorship liveries if they had to. I was thinking they could use Bugatti 35 replicas in a special race at Monaco as a tribute to the first race there, but Mercedes W25 or Auto Union Type A replicas would be good for Nurburgring.

Sadly, such a race is probably unlikely. I think more than a few F1 drivers would like such a concept (Alonso especially seemed to enjoy thrashing a 1950s Ferrari F1 around Silverstone a while back, and Rosberg and Hamilton have driven Silver Arrows for Mercedes in publicity stunts), but I don't think they would be allowed to race them, because of sponsors and teams not wanting to put their drivers' health in jeopardy, etc. Hope I'm wrong though.

Oh it'll never happen. There's more chance of a control chassis being passed as law from 2016! In other words, nil.
Even with your suggestion of roll bars & seat belts I doubt some of the current drivers wouldn't have the intestinal fortitude to turn up leather cap in hand wearing the cotton overalls. The roll bars would ruin the visual aspect for me anyway.
I like your Bugatti idea too 👍

 

[Pete05]

OP has been updated with details, technical specifications and links to other sources of information

 

[StarLight]

Oops, missed this one .... voted!
👍