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As early as the end of 1933, the first design sketches were drawn up in the Porsche design office, and in 1934 they took more concrete form. The project managers decided to build a test car – but as far as is known, this never happened. The project was abandoned in 1935, and after World War II the Auto Union factory remained in the Russian occupation zone, and its traces disappeared into the archives of Audi and Porsche.
But not completely. According to the documents found, the car uses a ladder chassis design and reduces the compression ratio of the 16-cylinder engine so that it can run on regular gasoline. The supercharger is also low, and engineers still estimate that the 4,400 rpm engine will produce 200 horsepower at 3,650 rpm and a maximum torque of 43.6 kgm at 2,235 rpm.
At some point in recent years, without Audi reporting when and especially why and how much the project cost, the surviving blueprints were taken out and transferred to the British classic restoration studio Crosthwaite & Gardner to continue the work that was interrupted 8 decades ago. The work was supposed to be completed as early as 2023, but it is only now being revealed.
The British used most of the original design, including the 5-speed manual gearbox and four-drum brakes that were common at the time. But the suspension chosen was more modern, the 29-liter fuel tank was moved under the seat, and the wheelbase was lengthened. Together with the classic experts in Audi tradition, it was also decided to use a larger and more advanced engine from an Audi model of the late 1930s, with a capacity of 6 liters and a power of 520 hp, as it required a mixture of gasoline, methanol and toluene.
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