Hitler-mobile for sale - Bring your wallet

[Chocaholic]

A rare 1939 German sports car commissioned by Adolph Hitler is expected to command the highest price ever paid for any automobile at auction, according to Christie's, which will conduct the auction in Paris in February 2007.

The car, one of five remaining "Auto Union D-Types," is expected to sell for more than $12 million, said Rupert Banner, head of Christie's motor cars department.

In 1933, after becoming Chancellor of Germany, Hitler offered 500,000 reichmark for a company to design a race car to show off the nation's technological prowess. Originally, Mercedes-Benz got the nod. But Ferdinand Porsche, then an engineer with Auto Union, which today is known as Audi, was able to secure the financing to build a revolutionary car he had designed.

That car was modified over the next few years to become the 1939 Auto Union D-Type.

The D-type had a number of features that were extremely advanced for its day, including an engine mounted behind the driver and four-wheel independent suspension. Its twin-supercharged 3-liter V12 engine can produce 485 horsepower, giving the car a top speed of 185 miles per hour.

In many ways, the D-type offered a glimpse into what would become the future of racing. It's fundamentally very similar to Formula 1 and Indy race cars of today. "It's the same as a modern day race car, just without fins," said Banner.

One thing it doesn't have, of course, is modern safety technology. Race cars in those days didn't even have seatbelts. It was seen as preferable to be thrown from the car in a crash. One safety advance the D-type did have was a removable steering wheel, allowing the driver to be more easily removed in the event of a fire

Gallery: History of the Microcar

D-type cars won several Grand Prix races throughout Europe. Two days after Germany invaded Poland, the same day that Great Britain declared war on Germany, the car Christie's will be auctioning won a Grand Prix race in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Banner said. It was the last race held in Europe until after the war. "This was a legendary period in racing," Banner said of the pre-war years.

A number of D-type cars were lost or destroyed after World War II, according to Christie's. The car that will be sold in Paris was taken to Russia after the war, where it was disassembled to study its technology.

The car was re-discovered in Ukraine in the late 1980s. It was still in pieces, but was otherwise undamaged. Another car discovered nearby had had its chassis sawed in half, Banner said.

The current record for a car sold at auction, according to Christie's, is £5.5 million, or almost $11 million. That was paid for a 1931 Bugatti Type 41 Royale Sports Coupe sold by Christie's in 1987.

As for the connection to Hitler, "It's not something people really want to be associated with," Banner said. But the car's value rests on its technological importance, Banner said.

Ian Kelleher, managing director of RM Auctions, a competing auction firm that specializes in classic cars, agreed that the Auto Union D-type is extremely valuable, but felt that it might not go for as much as Christie's was expecting.

The market for single-seat race cars is simply very limited, Kelleher said.

"You can't drive the Auto Union anywhere but on a track, and it's a lonely way to spend $10 million," he said, referring to the low-end estimates of the car's value.

The D-type will be sold as part of Christie's "Retromobile" auction of antique cars.

Ferdinand Porsche also designed another car for Hitler, but for a very different purpose. That car, inspired by the success of the inexpensive Ford Model T in the United States, ultimately became known as the Volkswagen Beetle. It also had a rear-mounted engine as do today's Porsche sports cars.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Good old Ferry. Any pics?

[onewhippedpuppy]

http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/auto_d.htm

[Chocaholic]

[rsNINESOOPER]

in the link above it shows the grill to be bent/damaged at the lower left - I have to say for the price that car better be perfect-

but what do I know about 12m dollar cars..........nothing

[legion]

There was an (tongue-in-cheek) article in Automobile a few years ago that stated that what really brought down the Third Reich was Hitler's affinity for cars. It said that according sales records, some 300,000 cars "personally owned by Hitler" had been sold worldwide in the past 50 years. The article did the math and figured the expenditure on that many cars was enough to starve the war effort...

[Sonic dB]

I posted a video of this here last week. When they were recently transporting the car, someone dropped something on the hood and damaged it... they were supposed to repair it before the auction.

Its said that these cars got so hot, that the drivers would have 2nd degree burns on their hands by the end of the race. They were used to set land speed records on the autobahn

[daepp]

Amazing engine...looks blown!

[Eric 951]

I remember seeing Hitlers' staff car at the Imperial palace in LV a few years back. It was the huge 6-wheeled Benz set-up as if on-parade, with mannequins in uniform and a couple swastika banners--the hood ornament was the eagle clutching the swastika--they even had Hitlers field cap on display in a seperate glass box--there was also a video/brochure display explaining how this was not meant to glorify nazism, but was only displayed as a historical piece.
When I returned the next year, the banners were gone, as were the mannequins and hitlers' cap. They even removed the hood ornament and fender flags.
The following year, the entire car was gone. I always wondered what happened

[SlowToady]

Very cool. I've seen pictures of this car before, but never knew what it was.

Seems like Ferry knew the deal from the start: 1874lb + 485HP twin blown V12 == good times.

I want a sound clip...

[vbaron]

A few weeeks ago there was a documentary on Auto Union history in the 1930s and the C and D type cars. They also covered Bernd Rosemayer. The show included a segment on this car and its' restoration.

Unfortunately, I can't remember what channel it was on, but it may have been Speed.

[vanosman]

John 18:36
Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm."

Shalom

[CurtEgerer]

Porsche didn't have anything to do with the D-Type 12 cylinder cars. He did design the previous generation, the 16-cylinder C-Types, which ranked slightly higher on the badass scale. You be the judge

D-Type startup:



C-Type startup:

[UconnTim97]

That car surely would be fun for the daily commute to work.

[Tobra]

look at those tires, and big drum brakes

what sort of giant balls would you need

400 hp, 1200 kg, aero of bobsled, feet in front of the axle, gas tank as your backrest, airplane motor that will rev to 10K a foot behind your head