6 replies to this topic

[RStock]

Finally, the question I joined this forum to ask (I've been letting the suspense build). I've been able to find out very little about the Auto Union Sport Car effort (Werksportabteilung), it seems to have been mostly an afterthought. The search function here didn't really turn up anything.

We'll see if we can add to that here. I'll state what little I know and hopefully others can debunk it, expound on it, or add to it.

It seems they competed little outside Germany. I do recall a story about The Alpine Rallye with something about Hühnlein causing some problems and I think Alfa Romeo was involved somehow.

Augie Momberger and Fritz Tragner are the only two drivers I have seen named for the team but I'm sure there were more.

Were the Wanderer Streamliners part of this team?

That's enough to start it out. Anyone know more?

[D-Type]

Auto Union comprised DKW, Horch, Audi and Wanderer. All four constituent companies marketed sports cars at one time or another under their own names. Are you asking about a [prewar] sports car branded as an "Auto Union"?

[David McKinney]

My interpretation was he was asking for works entries of non-GP cars (of any of the above makes) in pre-war events

[Vitesse2]

A works DKW team won an Alpine Cup in the 1936 Alpine Trial. Wanderer teams also won three: in 1931, 1932 and 1934, but I'm not clear whether any or all were official works efforts. I believe I've seen a reference somewhere that in the early years of AU the constituent companies retained their separate competition departments: OTOH I don't think either Audi or Horch were big on competition! There were certainly Wanderers in the Langstreckenrennen and Marathon de la Route and there were some entered for the Berlin-Rome, but the entrants and drivers seem to be unknown.

AFAIK there were no works teams of any description in the 1938 and 1939 (all-German) Alpine Trials, the entries being made in the names of DDAC, SS, Wehrmacht, Reichspost etc. The French Rallye des Alpes had some German entries in 1938 and 1939, but nothing from AU AFAIK. German cars are pretty scarce in the Monte too.

[duby]

...
AFAIK there were no works teams of any description in the 1938 and 1939 (all-German) Alpine Trials, the entries being made in the names of DDAC, SS, Wehrmacht, Reichspost etc. The French Rallye des Alpes had some German entries in 1938 and 1939, but nothing from AU AFAIK. German cars are pretty scarce in the Monte too.

is there any list of those entries ?
under the DDAC, SS, Wehrmacht, Reichspost ?
why not under the NSKK ?

[Vitesse2]

There were NSKK entries too. Martin Pfundner knows more, I'm sure.

[Holger Merten]

The Werkssportabteilung was founded in 1935, head was Auto Union GP- Driver Momberger in Zwickau in the Horch factory. The Werkssportabteilung was responsable for the special non GP entries with Auto Union cars. Unfortunately there is no bokk published bout that engaement. I tried to summarize the Werksportabteilung in a short chapter of the 1992 published Company Chronic Im Zeichen der Vier Ringe. The Werkssportabteilung was very successful over the years with their works drivers, but has to support also the Nazis (e.g. NSKK, Wehrmacht and Police) with cars for competions. Well known are the Liege-Rome-Liege engagements in 1938 and 1939 and the preperations for the planed Berlin-Rome-Run in 1939. If somebody wants to know more, send me a PM.

Edited by Holger Merten, 22 August 2012 - 18:51.