Auto Union Typ C, German GP 1936 #4, weathered

Bernd Rosemeyer came to Auto Union from motorcycle racing with hardly any car racing experience, and 1936 was his season. At the German Grand Prix on 26 July, 22 laps of the Nürburgring, he started sixth on a grid drawn by ballot, brought #4 home almost four minutes ahead of his teammate Hans Stuck and set the fastest lap, thirteen days after marrying the aviator Elly Beinhorn. Wins in the Swiss and Italian Grands Prix followed, and with them the European Championship. His Typ C carried a supercharged six-litre V16 behind the driver, good for up to 520 hp.

This example shows the car as it might have looked after those 22 laps, in an applied patina: grime streaked along the flanks and around the engine bay, rust-coloured flecks at the nose, the red 4s worn at the edges and the Continental tyres grey with dust. The front bonnet panel and the louvred engine cover both lift off, the V16 beneath detailed down to its plug leads, and some photographs show the panels on small stands. It is also pictured on a drilled metal base engraved with the Auto Union rings, beside two photographs of Rosemeyer: one smiling from the cockpit of a car numbered 4, with a dedication in old German script, and a portrait card captioned Europameister 1936. Both bear a signature in his name, not yet authenticated.