Auto Union Streamliner Sculpture, Mirror Polished

In 1937 Auto Union brought streamlined versions of its Typ C to the Berlin Grand Prix at the Avus, and its streamliners went on to chase records on the autobahn. Ferdinand Porsche had designed the mid-engined Auto Unions, and Bernd Rosemeyer, European champion in 1936, gave technical feedback to Porsche and to the development engineer Eberan von Eberhorst. It was in a streamliner that Rosemeyer made his last runs. On 28 January 1938, on the autobahn between Frankfurt and Darmstadt, Rudolf Caracciola set a record of 432 km/h for Mercedes-Benz; Rosemeyer went out later that morning to beat it, the car went out of control and he was killed at the roadside.

This sculpture takes that shape and polishes it to a mirror. The body runs in one smooth sweep from the low nose, with the four rings raised on the bonnet, to a long pointed tail, and the wheels sit inside fairings held by small catches, with gilt wire wheels showing beneath. Two figures in a dark patina complete the scene: a driver in leather helmet and goggles sits in the open cockpit, and a man in a trilby and overcoat leans over the side to speak to him, one hand raised. The piece stands on a thick block of pale, rough-sawn wood.