Grand Prix History of Auto Union D
Carried Hermann Muller to Unofficial 1939 European Championship
Auto Union raced the Type D in 1938 and 1939. Highlights included Tazio Nuvolari winning the '38 Italian GP and Hermann Muller winning the "unofficial" '39 championship.
The racing history of the Auto Union Type D was short, less than two full grand prix seasons. But there’s no question it was a highly successful car.
The Type D didn’t make its debut until the middle of the 1938 season. Then, the outbreak of World War 2 truncated the 1939 season.
The Type D achieved a measure of success immediately in 1938. In its first race, the German Grand Prix on July 24 at the Nurburgring, Hans Stuck drove a Type D to a podium finish – third place. Later in the season, Tazio Nuvolari drove a Type D to victory in the Italian GP and the Donington GP.
Then in 1939, Hermann Muller drove the Type D to the “unofficial” European Championship. His results in the championship races driving the Type D were a win in the French GP (Reims-Gueux), second place in the German GP (Nurburgring) and fourth place in the Swiss GP (Bremgarten).
AICAR (Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus) was the forerunner of the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile), the worldwide governing body of motorsport. Due to the outbreak of World War 2, AICAR did not declare a champion driver for 1939. When racing ended, Muller was leading in the standings.
Thus, the Type D arguably matched its predecessor in having carried a champion driver. In 1936, Bernd Rosemeyer drove the Auto Union Type C to the AICAR European Championship.
Also in 1939, the Type D won two other lesser grands prix -- driven by Stuck in Bucharest, Rumania against a field of sports cars and driven by Nuvolari in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
It is safe to call the Belgrade race a “lesser” grand prix because there were only five cars in the field. Four were grand prix cars – two Type Ds and two Mercedes-Benz W154s. The Type Ds, driven by Nuvolari and Muller, finished first and third, respectively.
The Belgrade race is historically significant because it was the only grand prix to take place in Europe during World War 2. Two days before the race, on September 1, 1939, the war began with Germany’s invasion of Poland.
For more information on the 1939 Belgrade GP, please see the Suite101 article, “Nuvolari Wins 1939 Belgrade GP.”
A handful of factors may have contributed to the Type D making its debut in the middle of the 1938 season. First, as the replacement for the Type C, the Type D was a new car built to adhere to a new formula. The Type D’s V12 engine was the maximum size allowed with a supercharger – 3.0 liters.
Another factor may have been that Auto Union did not renew the contract for 1938 of Professor Ferdinand Porsche, who had designed the race cars since the start in 1934.
Porsche’s long-time protégé, Professor Robert Eberan von Eberhorst, designed the Type D, according to a news release on the Audi of America Press site.
Lastly, tragedy struck in January 1938. Auto Union’s top grand prix driver, Rosemeyer, was killed while trying to set a world land speed record on the Frankfurt-Darmstadt Autobahn.
In 1938, Auto Union intended to race two Type Ds in the first championship race, the French GP on July 3 at Reims-Gueux. But both Muller and Rudolf Hasse crashed in practice. Muller’s car was destroyed, while Hasse’s was slightly damaged.
Auto Union ended up racing two Type C/Ds -- 1937 cars with a 3.0-liter engine that conformed to the new formula.
The debut of the Type D occurred in the second championship race, the German GP (July 23 at the Nurburgring). As mentioned above, Stuck finished third. Nuvolari also drove a Type D, but was involved in an accident on the second lap and retired from the race. (A Type C/D driven by Muller finished fourth.)
The first win for the Type D came in the fourth and final championship race of the 1938 season. Nuvolari won the Italian GP on September 11 at Monza. Muller was in line for a strong finish. However, he retired with engine trouble with three laps to go.
Nuvolari scored another win in a Type D in 1938, taking the final race of the season, the non-championship Donington GP on October 22 at Donington Park in England.
Auto Union opened its 1939 season on May 21 in the Eifelrennen, a non-championship race at the Nurburgring. Four Type Ds were among the 13 cars that started the race.
All four finished on the lead lap. Nuvolari was the top finisher (second place). Then came Hasse (fifth), Ulrich Bigalke (sixth) and Muller (seventh).
Type D at Auction
In February 2007, Christie’s had a Type D available in its “Retromobile” auction of antique automobiles. It was initially advertised as the car that won the 1939 French GP (driven by Muller) and the 1939 Belgrade GP (driven by Nuvolari).
After questions arose regarding the car’s racing heritage, Christie’s withdrew the Type D from the auction to conduct additional research. The result of research was that the Type D was the car (chassis 19) that finished fifth in the Eifelrennen (driven by Hasse) and sixth in the 1939 French GP (driven by Stuck).
Christie’s then sought to sell the car in a closed-bid auction in March 2007. The car did not change hands. But Christie’s will put it back up for auction in the future.
Christie’s does not believe the change in racing heritage will negatively impact the price the Type D will fetch at auction due to the car’s ultra-rarity.
For more information on the resolution of the identity of the Type D at auction, please see the Suite101 article, “Heritage of Auto Union at Auction.”
