Classic & Sports Car – Audi’s V16-powered record-breaker is backAudi’s latest car isn’t that new at all.The Auto Union Lucca is a V16-engined recreation of a 200mph-plus record-breaker that’s been lost since WW2.The reborn Lucca – or Rennlimousine, as it was also known – will be seen in action for the first time at Goodwood Festival of Speed, in the UK, from 9-12 July 2026.On 15 February 1935, German ace Hans Stuck piloted the original car to a top speed of 326.975kph (203.17mph) on a stretch of autostrada near Lucca, the Italian city in Tuscany that lent the Auto Union its name.AdvertisementAdvertisementAnd this incredible, striking-looking machine has been recreated using historical documents and photographs from Audi’s archive.Classic & Sports Car – Audi’s V16-powered record-breaker is backIngolstadt’s heritage department commissioned British firm Crosthwaite & Gardiner, based in East Sussex, to build the replica.The revived streamliner has been tested in Audi’s wind tunnel, where it achieved a drag coefficient of 0.43Cd.Almost a century ago, in the 1930s, the Lucca was one of the first racing cars developed in a wind tunnel: engineers worked in the Berlin-Adlershof Aeronautical Research Institute’s facility to create the dramatic shape.At the time, the specially built Auto Union represented the latest chapter in the marque’s fierce battle with compatriot Mercedes-Benz for top-speed supremacy.Classic & Sports Car – Audi’s V16-powered record-breaker is backAfter the Stuttgart-based manufacturer had set a series of record-breaking runs in Hungary in 1934, Auto Union responded with the then-yet-to-be-named Lucca.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe slippery single-seater’s lightweight body was sanded down and coated with a clear lacquer, and the rear wheels were covered by teardrop-shaped spats.In addition, Auto Union’s 16-cylinder motor was bored out to 5 litres and installed amidships (the recently unveiled replica is powered by a later 6-litre unit, though).Following tests on Berlin’s Avus race track on 17 December 1934, the Auto Union team headed to Gyón, Hungary, in early 1935.Classic & Sports Car – Audi’s V16-powered record-breaker is backUnfortunately, poor weather conditions and a damaged tailpipe thwarted this challenger’s first top-speed runs.Undeterred and with the car repaired, the Rennlimousine was brought to a long, straight road in Italy, near Lucca.AdvertisementAdvertisementIt was here, on 15 February 1935 – and in front of thousands of spectators – that Grand Prix driver Hans Stuck completed the flying mile at 320.267kph (199mph) and recorded a top speed of 326.975kph (203.17mph), astonishing figures for 91 years ago.At around the same time, Auto Union constructed a second Rennlimousine to display at the Berlin motor show – and with which to presumably celebrate its success.Classic & Sports Car – Audi’s V16-powered record-breaker is backIn May 1935, the pair of supercharged racers competed at the Avus circuit in the German capital, but they both retired.The record-breaking Auto Union Lucca and its sibling were lost during WW2. But they weren’t forgotten…AdvertisementAdvertisementAudi Tradition’s secret mission to revive the former has been under wraps since 2023.The Lucca follows the Type 52 ‘Schnellsportwagen’ – a 1930s Ferdinand Porsche design that was never built in period – that Audi Tradition unveiled at Goodwood in 2024.The ‘new’ Auto Union Lucca will make its dynamic debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, on the south coast of England, from 9-12 July.Images: Audi TraditionWe hope you enjoyed reading. Please click the ‘Follow’ button for more super stories from Classic & Sports Car.
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