This year Audi Tradition is once again taking part in more than 20 events in Germany and abroad – while also celebrating a few anniversaries. One of the highlights: It was exactly 80 years ago that the Auto Union Type C racing car with Bernd Rosemeyer behind the wheel won the European Grand Prix championship. After a two year hiatus, fans will have another chance to hear and see this unique 16-cylinder racing car live. The Type C will be running in three events in Germany and England.
In keeping with tradition, the annual Audi Tradition program starts up with the Techno Classica vintage car show in Essen (April 6 to 10). As in past years, Audi Tradition will be in Hall 7 at the world’s biggest exhibition of historic automobiles. The motto at the Audi stand will be “Rarities.” And the spotlight will shine on rare cars and motorcycles that made company history. A special treat for automotive experts will be the Audi quattro Spyder and the Audi Avus quattro. The premium brand presented these two concept cars for the first time 25 years ago.
In the 1930s, the Silver Arrows from Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz dominated the international racing scene. And in 1936, the Auto Union Type C was the benchmark by which all racing cars were measured. It was at the wheel of this car that the up and coming young driver Bernd Rosemeyer rose to superstar status in only one season. Out of four of the big prizes credited toward the European Championship, Rosemeyer took home three. He won the title and the German Hillclimb and Road Racing Championship to boot. And he finished as the victor ahead of his teammate Hans Stuck, who prior to that had been considered unbeatable on hills. Audi Tradition is bringing the replica of this racing car to the Goodwood Festival of Speed (June 23 to 26) in England and the Classic Days show at Dyck Castle near Düsseldorf (August 5 to 7). And the Auto Union Type C will also be running at the historic Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb in England (July 16 to 17). Hans Stuck won this race 80 years ago.
Other perennial attractions in the Audi Tradition program of events are the Danube Classic (June 23 to 25) around the Audi location of Ingolstadt, and the Heidelberg Historic show (July 21 to 23) near Neckarsulm. At the Danube Classic, Audi Tradition is taking part with an entire “armada” of historic cars. Playing leading roles this year will be models made by the NSU brand: Visitors to the classic car show can expect a lineup including a Prinz 1000, a Prinz TT and two Ro80 examples. This time a pre-war rarity will be running its laps around Heidelberg – the replica of a Wanderer Streamliner. The original car was driven in the 1939 Liège-Rome-Liège long-distance race, the most difficult of its era.
Rally fans will find a highlight waiting for them at the Eifel Rallye Festival in Daun (July 21 to 23), the largest event of its kind in Germany. Audi Tradition will be there, showing the Audi Group S prototype. The car was developed for the 1987 season, but was never driven in a race. Two of the Audi Sport quattro S1 “winged monsters” are running at the event. In just such a rally race car, Walter Röhrl will be driving for Audi Tradition in this year’s Rossfeld International Edelweiss Hillclimb in Berchtesgaden (September 23 to 25). The AUDI AG history department is also making a special appearance at the ADAC Sachsenring Classic (June 10 to 12) on the motorcycle race track in Hohenstein-Ernstthal. Audi Tradition is running the freshly restored DKW UL 500 racing machine from 1939 for the first time there. Also in on the action will be the Audi 90 quattro IMSA GTO from 1989. It is one of the most unusual racing cars in the history of Audi Motorsport.
And last but not least, the brand with the four rings will be showing its colors at the Bodensee Klassik (May 5 to 7), the Kitzbühel Alpine Rally (June 1 to 4), the Schloss Bensberg Classics (July 1 to 3), the Ennstal Classic (July 27 to 30), the Sachsen Classic (August 18 to 20) and at the Hamburg Stadtpark Revival (September 3 to 4). The season finale will be the two model car exhibitions at the Audi Forums in Neckarsulm (November 6) and Ingolstadt (November 27).
