After three years of meticulous restoration work, a record-breaking racing icon from the interwar era returns as a fully functional tribute to early motorsport obsession.
A Forgotten Racing Icon Returns in Lucca
Audi has officially unveiled a faithful recreation of the 1935 Auto Union Lucca, a legendary Silver Arrow racing machine from one of motorsport’s most radical eras. The car was presented in the Italian city of Lucca, a symbolic nod to its historic record-breaking run nearly a century ago.
Originally developed during the intense rivalry between Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz, the Lucca represented the cutting edge of 1930s speed engineering. Its return is not a static museum piece, but a fully functional reconstruction built to honor its original performance legacy.
A Three Year Restoration Built From History
The recreation project was carried out over three years by British specialists Crosthwaite & Gardiner, who relied on archival photography, engineering documents, and historical records to rebuild the car from the ground up.
Every detail of the bodywork was carefully recreated, from its streamlined silver shell to its covered wheels and aerodynamic teardrop shaping. The result is a precise revival of the original “Rennlimousine” concept, designed for extreme straight-line speed in an era before modern safety systems existed.
Supercharged Power Meets Historic Design
Under the recreated body sits a 6.0 liter supercharged 16 cylinder engine producing 520 horsepower. While visually faithful to the original architecture, the power unit has been adapted from later Auto Union engineering to ensure it can operate safely during modern demonstration runs.
Weighing just under 1,000 kilograms, the vehicle maintains an extraordinary power to weight ratio that still feels competitive by modern standards, underscoring just how advanced its original design was for the 1930s.
From Historic Record to Modern Demonstration
The original Auto Union Lucca achieved speeds exceeding 320 km per hour during its record attempts in 1935, driven by racing legend Hans Stuck. That legacy now continues in recreated form, with the rebuilt version set to make dynamic appearances at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
By bringing the Silver Arrow back to life, Audi has transformed a lost piece of motorsport history into a living demonstration of early engineering ambition and aerodynamic innovation.
