Audi brings Auto Union Lucca back to Italy
Audi has recreated Auto Union Lucca, the improved record car which reached 326,975 km/h (203 mph) on a road near the Italian city in 1935.
The one-off rebuild, completed in the spring of 2026 by Audi Tradition, brings back a piece of early Grand Prix engineering missing from the brand’s historic collection of vehicles. Known in the parlance of the time as a Rennlimousine or racing sedan, the car joins the Silver Arrow family after more than three years of work by British restoration specialists Crosthwaite & Gardiner.
images courtesy of Audi
A body shaped by speed
The original Auto Union Lucca resulted from a sharp mechanical push during the winter of 1934 and 1935, when Auto Union was chasing speed records against Daimler-Benz. The car began with the lessons of a previous record attempt vehicle, then moved through wind tunnel studies at the Berlin-Adlershof Aeronautical Research Institute, where engineers tested open and closed cockpit configurations in search of lower drag.
Its final shape is impressive even today. A long silver bodywork stretches over the chassis, with covered spoked wheels, teardrop wheel arches, a tapered rear wing and two circular air intakes behind the cockpit. The exhausts rise along the sides in clustered outlets, giving the car a technical immediacy that reads almost architecturally. Each surface appears to correspond to airflow, heat and pressure.
Audi Tradition recreated Auto Union Lucca for its historic Silver Arrow collection
From Hungary on the road near Lucca
The record attempt was originally planned for the autobahn near Gyón, Hungary, where Mercedes had set a mileage record in late 1934. The weather pushed the team south, first to Milan, then further afield again when snow covered the planned route. Finally a suitable stretch was found between Pescia and Altopascio, near Lucca.
There, the road was flat, tight, about eight meters (26 feet) wide and straight for about five kilometers (three miles). On February 14, 1935, the team began test runs, adjusting the radiator grille, wheel covers and aerodynamic details. The next morning, Hans Stuck returned to the course, where the official timekeepers used electrically triggered photocells to record the runs.
the improved car returns to Italy after setting the 1935 speed record near Lucca
A record created through small adjustments
The decisive adjustment came after the front opening of the radiator was mostly sealed, leaving only a small opening for cooling. In two average runs, Stuck set an International Class C launch mile record at 320.267 km/h. During a section of the return journey, the instruments recorded 326,975 km/h (203 mph), giving the car its claim as the fastest road racing car in the world.
For Audi and Auto Union Lucca, the image is only part of the story. The car shows how fast racing engineering was moving in the 1930s, when aerodynamics, engine development, body building and public image were all linked together. Its beauty comes from this pressure. The Rennlimousine looks elegant because every line had a job to do.
the car’s silver bodywork was shaped through wind tunnel studies and aerodynamic testing
Recreated for Audi’s historic collection
Audi Tradition reconstructed the Auto Union Lucca from archival photos and documents, with the body being one of the most demanding parts of the project. The cockpit canopy and tapered tail were hand built, along with the other model specific components. In Audi’s wind tunnel, the recreated car recorded a drag coefficient of 0.43.
The rebuild uses a 16-cylinder engine from the Auto Union Type C, with a displacement of 6.0 liters and 520 PS. Audi Tradition chose this because the unit is visually close to the 5.0-liter engine used in the period car, while allowing the vehicle to move within the wider Silver Arrow collection. The rebuilt Auto Union Lucca also incorporates some Avus-race modifications, including ventilation updates to help manage heat during future demonstration tests.
the tapered tail and compact cockpit turn the record car into a study of speed
the recreated car features a 16-cylinder engine from the Auto Union Type C
project information:
name: Audi Tradition Auto Union Lucca
