1937 Auto Union Typ C Stromlinie (record car) Pilot: Bernd Rosemeyer Team: Auto Union Race: 1937 land speed record attempt Brumm - R352 (diecast)
Published 10/07/19
For the 1935 Grand Prix season Auto Union used the Typ B. It was an evolution to the previous Typ A, with 56 distinct improvements on the engine and chassis. However, that was not enough, and they only managed a fifth place in the AIACR European Championship with Hans Stuck. To beat their arch-rival Mercedes-Benz they needed a better car. And that car was the Typ C. The new Typ C still shared a lot in common with the Typ B, though the biggest differences was the bigger engine and a ZF differential. It used the same V16 with SOHC and 32 valves, but now expanded to 6005 cm³. Supercharged by a Roots-type supercharger and with (the same) five speed gearbox, it could produce up to 560 hp.
With financial and political support from the Nazi government, land speed record (LSR) attempts became common place. Both Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union were attempting LSRs almost as soon as their first Silberpfeile rolled out of the factory. As a result, by 1937 the Rekordwoche (“record week”) became an annual event in October, at the Frankfurt/Main Autobahn. So as Auto Union did with their previous Silver Arrows, they would also try to break some records with the Typ C.
Though not very successful at the VI Internationales AVUS-Rennen in May, the Typ C Stromlinie nonetheless was fast. So for Rekordwoche some adaptations were necessary, but it was basically the same car. Bernd Rosemeyer was Auto Union’s top pilot, so he was the driver. At first they tried the car with covered wheels and a closed cockpit. However, after a few test runs engineers found out that the closed cockpit was adding drag. So they opened the cockpit for the actual record attempt (32” film). With that, on October 25th, 1937, Bernd Rosemeyer broke the Class B (5 to 6 l engines) LSR record. He was the first man to drive at 406.3 km/h, and on a public road!
I already had in the W-143 Garage the test version, so I needed the actual LSR version. Simple as they are, these models in particular from Brumm are VERY nice. And just as good, cheap too! This one is a special Audi dealer edition, so it comes in a fancy box, with a little info on the car (in German). The only thing that is a bit off is the color. The record car is in a different tone of silver compared to my other Silver Arrows. Though I don’t know if all are like that or just my model.
Well, this Typ C Stromlinie was a no-brainer buy. It’s a very well made model that costs very little, though in a not very popular theme. However, for the Silberpfeile or LSR collector, it’s a great buy.
UPDATE!
Published 10/16/19
Shortly after I published this review, I was reading a bit more on Silberpfeile LSR cars. And by chance I watched again the footage of Rosemeyer’s 1937 record attempt. I missed this when I first wrote the review, but you can clearly see that for the record run his Typ C carried a swastika. The test car did not have them, but for the actual record run German authorities (or Auto Union?) must have mandated them. Since I’m all about historical accuracy for my models, I had to fix mine.
From past projects I still had some extra decals and it was easy-peasy to apply them. Now my 1937 Typ C Stromlinie is more historically correct.
Well, historically accurate now but not the best looking decaled car I have. I guess my decals were a bit old because the red is flaking a bit off 🙁