Audi has revived a sports car based on 90-year-old drawings (9 photos)

In the mid-1930s, Auto Union was developing a sports car with a 16-cylinder engine. The Type 52 project was canceled in 1935 due to the approach of World War II. The Audi brand, which is the heir to Auto Union, decided to build this car based on drawings from 90 years ago.





The implementation of the idea was entrusted to the company Crosthwaite & Gardner, which specializes in the construction of historical sports cars. According to the original drawings and sketches, the car was built in less than a year and a half. It will remain in a single copy.

The Type 52 looks exactly as it was designed 90 years ago. But there are some differences from the original project. Installed behind the cockpit within the wheelbase, the engine has a displacement of 6.0 liters instead of 4.4. It is equipped with a turbocharger and develops a completely modern 512 hp, while the project of the 30s assumed an output of about 200 hp.

The original was supposed to weigh 1,300 kilograms and have a three-meter wheelbase. The use of a different engine and chassis led to changes in these parameters. The modern Type 52 weighs 1,450 kilograms and has 3,315 millimeters between its axles. Gearbox 6-speed, manual.

But the interior completely takes you back almost a century. Wooden panels, huge instrument dials, period-appropriate switches. Even the fabric for the seats is chosen to be suitable. There are three seats in the cockpit, with the driver sitting in the center and slightly ahead of the passengers, as in McLaren supercars.