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Grand Prix: WW2 Grand Prix car could be sold for $8.1 million

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Khatir Soltani
From Silver Scorpio

A Grand Prix car of one of Hitler's favourite racers is expected to fetch a whopping $8.1 million (6.1 millions euros), when it goes under the hammer later this year.

Touted to be the motorsport equivalent of the "Holy Grail", the 1939 Auto Union D-Type is the only model of the car to have stayed intact to date.

With a rear-mounted 3-litre twin-stage supercharged V12-cylinder engine, the 485bhp vehicle could exceed 200mph.

And galloping on racetracks in the supercar was Hans Stuck, one of an elite group of racers revered by many in Germany under Hitler.

The famous Auto Union was driven by Tom Kritsensen at Hockenheim in 2007.

With the war looming over Europe in 1939, Stuck drove the car in four Grands Prix (Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland), ranking 9th in the final standings.

The Chassis 19, as it came to be known, was one of 13 Auto Unions transported out of Germany by Soviet forces in 1945.

German motorsports commentator Eberhard Reuss revealed in his book 'Hitler's Motor Racing Battles' that for 40 years the survival of these cars seemed "little more than unproven myth", and the search for them "regarded as historic motorsport's quest for the holy grail."

While a majority of them were cannibalised for parts, Chassis 19 somehow avoided that fate.

In the mid-1980s, Paul Karassik, a Russian-born American classic car enthusiast, found Chassis 19 intact in Ukraine, and it was later restored by East Sussex-based Crosthwaite and Gardiner.

Auctioneers Bonhams and Butterfields said: "It one of the classic car world's most charismatic machines, and is exquisitely well-restored to running order."

The car will be sold on August 14.
photo:René Fagnan - Auto123.com
Khatir Soltani
Khatir Soltani
Automotive expert
As a car enthusiast, he tests and compares vehicles from different categories through the eyes of the consumer, ensuring relevant and objective reviews.
  • Over 6 years experience as a car reviewer
  • Over 50 test drives in the last year
  • Involved in discussions with virtually every auto manufacturer in Canada