The carbar union cars, a precursor of Audi, dominated the automobile competitions between 1934 and 1939. The vehicles reached maximum speeds of 380 km/hour. In training prior to the first race of the 'silver arrows', Hans Stuck achieved an incredible average speed per round of 245 km/h.
75 years ago one of the most exciting chapters in the history of motor racing began. On May 27, 1934, German competition cars that were finally known as 'silver dates' registered for the first time in a race, on the Avus track in Berlin. Although neither Auto Union, a company from which the current Audi was created, nor Mercedes-Benz won the test, began an adventure that would soon reap great successes and would mean a total domain of the car competitions around the world until the 1939 stop due to World War II.
The 'silver arrows' designer was the mythical Ferdinand Porsche. Design approval was subject to the engines developing at least 250 hp at 4,500 rpm, a really amazing figure at that time. Hans Stuck, one of the pilots who participated in the first official test of the 'silver arrows', was able to check two months before the operation of the vehicles establishing a new record of the world of speed in the Avus circuit.
During the first race, the cars demonstrated their enormous potential reaching half speeds of more than 225 kilometers per hour under very adverse conditions since they ran under a heavy rain but despite the enormous speed, technical problems prevented them from winning the race.
The 'silver arrows' maintained their design for several seasons, with the V16 engine located in the central part of the chassis, just behind the pilot's seat. They received several evolutions increasing from the initial 295 hp at 375 hp in 1935 and 520 hp in 1936. The engine had a six -liter displacement, it was extremely elastic and its maximum torque reached 87 MKG at 2,500 rpm. The gearbox was four speeds.
Until 1939 then, Auto Union competed in 61 races in circuits, 30 of which were large awards, achieving 24 victories, 23 seconds and 17 third positions. In addition, in 1934, 1936 and 1938 an Auto Union driver was a road competition champion in Germany.
{YouTube} VTPJGS_BU8S {/YouTube}
The video is a complete report of more than 40 minutes over the 'silver arrows'
