I talked to a guy in Columbus about his Excelsiors because I was thinking about them. He said they ride pretty rough. I think they look killer though but for $250 each it's hard to justify the crappy ride.
"Now all we need is the smell of the "secret" blend of alky fuel to burn our nostrils and make your eyes water " Quote: Can't imagine what those motors would sound like with that 30's special blend ... Make the stuff their running today seem like warm milk !... plus how many brain cells that would kill !!!!
Continental Synthetic Rubber Racing Tyres. http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/com/en/continental/portal/themes/continental/history/1926_1967_en.html Tire size: 5.25x17 front and 7x19 rear for the Type C http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/auto_c.htm
To have the chance to run one of those around the track.............man! Would that be fun..............
I wish I had a car that needed that two handed starter, holy shit that's cool. Now how can you get that in a ring tone! Hey a new alliance perk HAMB ringtones!
A little history I think there is still a real car in England...long story There is a Hungarian couple living in Fla. That own two real cars Audi has one real car they got from an auto museum in Rega. They also own a sortta real car they stored in the Deutsches Museum. I say sortta real because it has a new body. The museum is on an island They displayed the chassis for years....and threw the original body away after crushing it....when I asked they said "We didn't have room to store the body'' The rest of Audi's cars inc the liner in this thread are FAKES The fakes were built in England and I am sure that if you wanted one you could buy it. You guys think Ardun heads are $$$$ try buying an Audi There are parts around: Most of the Audi and Mercedes GP cars were taken back to Russia after the war. They were taken apart and studied at Tech Uni.s So if things ever lighten up in the world some more parts could surface I suspect I could stand in front of a bunch of Audi bits without a problem.BUT the way things are in Russia I could also get my throat cut. There are still pieces in the former East Germany. These are hidden the owners feel they would have problems with Audi claiming the parts back if they were sold openly. Based on my troubles with German car companies I must agree As for the political end of pre-war German racing history: This is a BMW SLAVE LABOR'S Badge... From Munich. This and so many others belonged to brave people forced to work til they died.BMW once told me they didn't have the records to tell me just who got this number, perhaps..........
You guys will enjoy these also,...at the bottom of the page...crank up the volume. http://www.milleroffy.com/Photo%20&%20Sound%20Gallery.htm#Sounds
Bluto, maybe we should all quit posting and just let you tell stories!? Cool info man. The BMW badge is a tad creepy though......
I think it is interesting history...The Auto Union streamliner was landSpeed raced on a newly completed section of the Autobahn in the 30's.
I'm sure some of you know the early 50's (1952) BRM V16 and the incredible sound of that supercharged mill. For those of you that haven't heard it..... check this out! http://gpl.krej.cz/mp3.html Oh... I love those Auto Union race cars too!!
Some clarification... The Karassiks' have sold both their cars (one was more or less complete, I believe, when they found it, the other less so.) One of these went to Audi Tradition, the other possibly to England. Bluto, could this be the car you mention in England or are you talking about the P-Wagen that's somewhere in Scotland? B. Ecclestone supposedly owns a Typ C replica. "Riga" not "Rega." (Sorry, I was an English Major in school.) Interesting you mention Arduns...the same people that did the tooling and the initial run of repro Ardun heads for Mr. Orosco also built the replica Auto Unions. A Typ D (correct name) came out of Prague, engineless...last known to be in a warehouse in Germany somewhere. There are so many lies surrounding these cars, and so many half-truths...I'm sure you're familiar with the story about the engine that was snuck across the border in the back of a car. Bluto, speaking of slave labor, I saw a photo Doug Nye took once after inspecting the real Riga car (I think...may have been the other real one) and someone, at some point, probably one of the slave laborers, had carved or hammered the Star of David into a casting on the car. I will see if I can dig up the photo. It was pretty sobering to see, especially given the context of where it was. Cris
'30s GP racing and Auto Union in particular is one of my favorite subjects. The A-U racing department was in Zwickau which ended up in the Soviet zone at the end of the war. Soviet records indicate that 13 A-U GP cars were sent to Russia sometime in late 1945, early '46. Those cars were dispersed to various Russian design bureaus for "technical evaluation". Over the years they were mostly cannibalised for various projects and the rest scrapped. One car was destroyed during a demonstration run when it crashed and killed 12 spectators. One fairly complete car was saved from the scrap heap by the head of the Latvian Automobile Club and went to a museum in Riga. Audi cut a deal with the museum a few years ago and had an exact reproduction built by Crosswaite and Gardner in the UK that they swapped for the original car. A fellow named Paul Karassik, who was originally from Romania (I think) and made a fortune in Florida real estate, managed to find and acquire most of what was left of a D-Type and a bunch of parts that became a second D-Type. One of these bits was most of a D-Type chassis that had been converted to a trailer by an industrious Soviet farmer. Both of these cars were restored by Crosswaite and Gardner as well. One was sold to Audi and I think Karassik still has the other. I haven't heard much about exactly how Karassik found the cars and got them out but I did read one bit about driving a load of parts out of Russia in a truck packed with crates labeled as used truck parts. I'd love to hear the full story, probably better than James Bond. There is also the C-Type that has been in the Deutches Museum since the war. From what I read, that was a test mule later used as a show car and doesn't have a race history. There is also a car in the UK at the Donnington Museum that was purported to be an A-U but has pretty much been proved to be a post war East German project. So, chances are there aren't any complete A-U GP cars in a barn in Russia, but, chances are there are still a load of original parts stashed in various places. But like Bluto said, Russia ain't the best place for a foreigner to be walking around with cash in his pocket looking for old junk. Cheers, Kurt
Man! That´s a cool thread. My boyfriend works in the Audi Museum in Ingolstadt. The Typ C is his favourite car. It´s the original Hillclimb car from Hans Stuck with Twintires in the rear. We were able to hear and see the V16 rumble on a historical Race through our old Town, it was the replica thou, but it was A W E S O M E !!!!!!! Don´t tell anybody that he sat in the car for a picture Here a few old detail shots of the engine and the roots blower Just in case somebody visits the museum, drop us a line. There will always be coffee and cake at our house
I think the most amazing thing about the BRM V16 and the sound it makes is that it is only 1.5 litres (or 90 cubic inches). At the time the Grand Prix rules allowed 1.5 litres supercharged, or 4.5 litres un-supercharged. There are some more pics and specs at this web site. After some development it made over 400 hp from 90 cubic inches - not bad for the early fifties ! http://8w.forix.com/brmp15.html
Outstanding sounds. I have waited for many years to hear one of those motors. Now, thanks to modern electronic tools, we can all learn more history. I read once that these cars were monsters to drive because they came "on the cam" so fast, the tires of the day made them widowmakers. Thanks!!
I believe Ferdinand Porsche had some influence in those cars if not desgining them. Another reason why I love Ferdinanad Porsche I once read in a Porsche book that one of those Auto Union cars went 230mph in the 30's !?! They are so beautiful too. Ferdiand is a hero of mine even if he did work with some nazis.
I don't have a specific ID on these D-B engines, but I think they're 605s for different applications. Very much the equivalent "workhorse" to our Allison and the R-R Merlin, and pumped with centrifugal huffers. Mike
Although the stories are legion of the provenance of the AU cars I suppose I will be happy with whatever has been saved. Something tangible is better than nothing. Sure it would be nice to have a spare team car that has never been wrecked or disassembled but that is a pipe dream. With everythig that went on in Europe at this time it is no wonder that the cars are in a bit of disarray. Still pretty nice stuff. Also the BRMs are pretty amazing, the sounds of 10000+RPMs is music for the soul. That being said I still get exited every time I hear a Novi and then Millers and some of the other local iron. Even at Indy in the early eighties I used to like to hear the deep sound of the stock blocks even though I knew they had no chance. If engines at speed dont make you smile then you have no pulse-Jim
"Music" does not do justice to the sound of that silver arrow. Hows about a little song from a Bugatti Type 35?
I love autounions, brilliant cars, simply amazing works of pure art. If I ever became absurdly rich, i'd own a clone.
Look close at the design- I've read accounts from the drivers who got second-degree burns on their feet from the heat generated by the radiator in the front-right by your feet! Sticky throttle cables, no NOMEX back then. It wasn't like drivin' a Buick, bubba.
My Dad's first job out of Purdue Univ. in 1940 was at Wright Aircraft in the R&D department. They were sent a DB601 out of a downed Bf109 by the Brits for technical evaluation. Dad said the thing was and engineering work of art. It took him a week to design the tool that would hold the cylinder while turning the locking collar to get the cylinder out of the crankcase. In his write-up he made sure to point out the attention to detail and quality of materials and finish of every part. Very labor intensive. That was one of the downfalls of the German war machine. They designed and built advanced beautifully finished machines that were time consuming and expensive to make. We made machines that were good enough and could be turned out by the thousands by less skilled labor.
Of course I´m a girl My avatarname means "Lightning-girl" in english Ferdinand Porsche is also one of our favourite engineers, and of course also Henry Ford! Porsche did not only do the engine he made the front and rear axle too. The typical VW axles of the postwar era
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