AUTO UNION TYPE C

> THIRD REICH PROPAGANDA

narrative notwithstanding, the Auto Union Grand Prix cars were a marvel of mid 20th century engineering. And the pick of the bunch is the Type C, which used a mid-mounted and s’charged 6.0-litre 16-cylinder engine, designed by none other than Ferdinand Porsche.

A simple and rigid tubular chassis, combined with a titanic 520bhp, torsion bar rear suspension and the sort of tyre section we now associate with mountain bikes, made the Type C truly terrifying to drive at anything like its full potential.

Bernd Rosemeyer dominated 1936’s Grand Prix season with the Type C, winning the European championship and becoming a national demigod in the process. But a high-speed record attempt in a Type C streamliner would be his undoing. In January 1938, at somewhere over 250mph on the newly built autobahn, the car left the road and hit a bridge, killing the SS captain instantly.