The 2008 Goodwood Festival of Speed (11–13 July) will see the world debut of an “all-new” Auto Union “Silverarrow” Type D. An authentic reconstruction of the 1939 dual-compressor model, the car will be driven at the event by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason. The project, commissioned by Audi Tradition, was undertaken by specialist workshop Crosthwaite & Gardiner in East Sussex, with bodywork completed by Roach Manufacturing, near Southampton. It took four years to complete.
The dual-compressor 12 cylinder Type D originally made its debut half way through the racing year at the 1939 Belgian Grand Prix and won two Grands Prix at the hands of Hermann Paul Müller (French GP) and Tazio Nuvolari (Belgrade GP). While heavily based on earlier Type D models, the bodywork of the 1939 car was modified to house the 485hp twin supercharger set up. Auto Union was split apart by Soviet forces after the completion of World War II, and as a result many of the technical drawings and records of their cars were lost forever. With only a few rare photos to work from the team at Roach Manufacturing had a painstaking task to recreate the Silverarrow’s exterior. The company already have a 1937 reconstruction on display at the Audi museum mobile, so their pedigree was well founded. At the completion of this project Keith Roach proudly declared, “it is one of our all-time masterpieces.”