Throughout most of the 1930s, the Auto Union group developed a series of race cars built by the Horch works unit in Zwickau, Germany. The series of cars, which were simply named in progressive order from Type A through D, were exceptionally powerful, large, rear-engined cars meant to exemplify German engineering of the time.
The early versions of the cars were equipped with supercharged V16 engines. The first version - the Type A - competed in 1934. It's V16 was a 4.4 liter engine that produced just under 300 hp, and weighed in at just over 1800 pounds. It was capable of 174 mph. The following year, they built a derivative version, the Type B. The engine was enlarged to 5.0 liters and increased boost pressure, bringing horsepower up to 370.
In addition to Auto Union and Mercedes battling one another on the race track, the two companies fought to become the first to exceed the top speed target of 400 km/h, or 248 mph. When Auto Union built a streamlined version of the Type B, it reached 199 mph on an Italian autostrada.
The next version for 1936 was the Type C. Engine displacement had grown to 6.0 liters and boost pressure was bumped to nearly 14 psi. Now producing 520 hp and over 600 foot pounds of torque, the Type C dominated the racing world. Driver Bernd Rosemeyer won the German, Swiss, and Italian Grands Prix and several other races in the Type C. It's said that the car could generate wheel spin at 100 mph.
The car was so dominant that little was changed going into 1937. Despite the lack of new developments, the Type C still did exceptionally well against the new Mercedes W125, winning five races.
The rivalry came to a boil going into the 1937 Avus race. The track had recently been modified to include high-speed 43° thanked turns to allow cars to launch onto the main street at significantly higher speeds than previous years. The track had a reputation for being the ultimate in racetracks, but also the most dangerous. There was no fence at the top of the highly banked curve, earning it the nickname of the wall of death.
In order to generate excitement for the race, which was facing competition from other events, the organizers invited both auto union and Mercedes-Benz cars to see which would be fastest. Both Auto Union and Mercedes debuted their new versions of Streamliners, alongside their regular Grand Prix cars.
The race was split into three sprint races of seven laps each with grids of only eight cars or less. There were four streamliners included, with two each from Mercedes and Auto Union. They were raced alongside more traditional Grand Prix cars. On the long straights, the streamliners had a significant advantage, but the Grand Prix cars would gain back time on the curved sections. The Mercedes cars proved victorious at that event with Rosemeyer's V16 running on only 13 cylinders.
Undeterred by their loss, Auto Union continued to develop the car. Additional bodywork was added. The battle for top speed superiority between Auto Union and Mercedes continued.
On January 28, 1938, both companies attempted a new high speed record on the autobahn. Rudolph Carraciola established the new record mark of 268 mph on the autobahn in the flying kilometer in his W125 Mercedes. Less than two hours later, it was time for Rosemeyer to make his attempt in the Type C V16 Streamliner.
It's not known whether Rosemeyer succeeded in breaking Carraciola's record, because he was involved in a horrific accident during his attempt. In hindsight, it is believed that Rosemeyer's car unintentionally had the elements of ground effect downforce. The belief is that the forces were more than the suspension and chassis could bear, with the car breaking under the extreme loads. Rosemeyer lost control of the car, launching it into the air, when it ultimately hit a bridge embankment. Rosemeyer was killed in the incident.
The onset of war ultimately brought these efforts to a halt.
The only true examples of the Type C Streamliner cars are in pictures, with all the originals destroyed. Audi rebuilt an exact replica of the 1937 Avus Type C Streamliner several years ago as commemoration.