New Delhi:Audi has made a comeback to the top of motorsport, in Formula One and announced their arrival with points in their debut race. Even though F1
didn’t exist back in the day, Auto Union (as it was known back in the day), race cars can still be viewed as bearers of the torch even in today’s motorsport.
One of them fused engineering ambition and drove bravery into a machine that almost redefined the aspect of what was possible. The car in question was the Auto Union Lucca. Now Audi Tradition has rebuilt this record car, and as is fitting, the car is making its comeback in the very place where it had reached its peak, Lucca, Italy.
Trip down the history lane of Audi Lucca
Auto Union Lucca back in the day
Back in the day, on February 15th of 1935, as an arrow-straight section of the autostrada near Lucca, a 16-cylinder engine tore through the air with Hans Stuck, known as “King of the Mountains”, driving the streamlined racing car through the measured mile. The result, Auto Union has a flying-start average of 320.267 kph and a peak pace of 326.975 kph, making it the fastest road-racing car back in the day. These numbers come before the shadow of the war are to come, and even in today’s standards, they stand as a marvel.
After three years of construction, we have it back thanks to the efforts of specialists at Crosthwaite & Gardiner in England. Completed in time for spring 2026, this Silver Arrow completes a painful gap in Audi AG’s historic collection. Back in the day, the findings from the wind tunnel at the German Research Institute for Aviation in Berlin-Adlershof came into the design of the body shape.
Under the bonnet of the original Lucca car was the early version of the 16-cylinder engine, making 343 hp with about 5.0 litres of displacement.
In its newest iteration, the reborn Lucca gets a 16-cylinder engine with a compressor, a 6005 cc engine, and makes about 512 hp, and of course, it is a one-off. After it has debuted, it will be going around the asphalt of the Goodwood Festival of Speed from July 9th to 12th, with the 16-cylinder roaring.
