Ferdinand Porsche Ver Arrows Were Bred from Porsche DNA
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Porsche 356-01, built in Austria in 1948, may have ended up as no more than a footnote uring the 1930s, German racers in automotive history if not for the reputation of the man whose name it wore. Although that known as the Silver Arrows dom- first Porsche, and the thousands of 356s to follow were based on the VW’s design, the success of inated Grand Prix competition. the line owed much to other famous designs from Professor Porsche’s fertile mind. The pinna- There were two different makes, a version built cle of his career spanning five decades was the creation of the pre-war Auto Union Grand Prix by MercedesD Benz and another built by Auto racers. In its post-war effort to survive and prosper, the new Porsche automobile company was Union which was originally called the Silver Fish. promoted on the laurels won by these sleek and powerful aluminum racers. These cars decimated their competition - Alfa Phil Carney tells their fascinating story with previously unpublished photos. Romeo, Maserati, and Bugatti – so completely that after three years only Alfa remained to fight By Phil Carney with the German cars. As a result many Grand Prix races became simply a Mercedes versus Auto Union battle. An interesting element to this clash of titans was that both versions of the Sil- Ferdinand Porsche ver Arrows were bred from Porsche DNA. The Mercedes Connection In 1923 Ferdinand Porsche joined the Ger- man Daimler company. At the time, Stuttgart Daimler was in the process of bringing a super- and the charged, four-cylinder, two-liter car to the Indi- anapolis 500 race circuit. It was entered into the 1923 race but failed miserably. Porsche took on ilver rrows the challenge of perfecting and sorting the su- S A percharged car and ensuring that it would not Photos from the Heinrich Hoffmann Collection 16 Volume 32, Number 2 -356 Registry further embarrass Daimler. He labored on the The race crowd was not to be disappointed Below: Hitler used the Berlin Auto Show as a stage Indy racer for nine months and after the carbu- at the 1924 Targa. The circuit measured about for predicting and demonstrating Germany’s superior retor system, supercharger and exhaust were sixty-seven miles and four laps were required transportation capabilities. At the time, Grand Prix tuned to each other, performance improved for a total of 268 miles. Starters were released at racing was a well-publicized venue for demonstrating tremendously. The proving point for both two minute intervals and Masetti started before a country’s technology competence and competition Porsche’s talents and the Indy racer was the Werner while Ascari started just behind him. At was very keen just as it was in the space race of the April 1924 Targa Florio. Daimler sent three Mer- the end of the first lap the order was still the 1960s. And just as Americans at the time followed cedes cars to compete in Sicily and the drivers same but times between the key competitors had every rocket launch with acute interest, in the 1930s were Christian Werner, Christian Lautenschlager, tightened up. After the second lap Werner the German public crowded race tracks for glimpses Alfred Neubauer, and co-driver Ferdinand showed a very noticeable elapsed time im- of their favorite drivers and to see the “Silberpfeil” Porsche. Werner was considered the fastest man provement and the Alfa pit ordered Ascari to racers in action. on the Daimler team but Lautenschlager was a floor the gas pedal. Ascari tried hard but at the veteran of the event having raced it in 1922. Al- end of lap three it was unclear whether Werner The Junkers airliner in the background could carry fred Neubauer was racing for Daimler at the or Ascari would be the victor. The fourth and ten-plus passengers, but most of the Ju-86 models time but he would make his mark in the future final lap would be decisive. The timing gap be- built through 1943 were used as bombers, including when he took on the assignment of race man- tween Werner and Ascari closed and the finish high-altitude and photo reconnaissance models. Just ager. The big name competition came from the line was in sight when the engine in Ascari’s Alfa as with the Volkswagen, an ostensibly civilian devel- Italians, namely Count Masetti and Antonio As- seized. Ascari was not willing to be easily dis- opment was pre-empted for the Nazi war effort. cari driving Alfa Romeo RLs. missed and together with his mechanic they Opposite: In addition to Grand Prix competition, the Silver Arrow cars were used in hillclimbs and for land speed record attempts. During 1935 the Auto Union team went to Gyon, Hungry for record attempts but the circumstances were bad with snow so after two test runs the team went to Italy instead. After having dismissed the Milan - Varese road they finally made the record runs at Florence. On the return run of his 3rd attempt Hans Stuck set a time of 11.01 on the kilometer, making him the first driver to run over 200 mph on a road. This was not accompanied by any good run in the other direction so Stuck failed to take Caracciola’s record. A combination of the 3rd and 4th runs gave Stuck the 1 Mile record which also was the fastest record made on a road. Stuck’s 5th series gave his best km times of the day just short of Caracciola’s Mercedes. www.356Registry.org - July / August 2008 17 started pushing his Alfa towards the finish line. Ferdinand Porsche did much to redeem engines, Porsche put the supercharger between Spectators joined them in pushing the car. But himself with the Targa win. The mayor of the carburetor and intake valves. The new cre- Werner’s Mercedes engine was reliable and he Stuttgart made a speech praising the victory and ation was as wonderful as the previous and finished first overall. The Mercedes’ of Lauten- Ferdinand was awarded an honorary doctorate Rudolf Caracciola won the first Großer Preis Von schlager and Neubauer were back in the pack from the technical college of Stuttgart. His de- Deutschland (German Grand Prix) on July 11, but they were also reliable resulting in a 1-2-3 gree read, “In recognition of his outstanding 1926 at the fast AVUS Track near Berlin. in-class finish for Daimler. merit in the field of motor car construction and In 1926 Daimler-Benz changed direction. particularly as designer of the winning car in the No longer would they be building small engines In 1934, Professor Porsche (far left) and Hans Stuck 1924 Targa Florio.” for racing. Big six-liter engines were to be put on (in white driving suit) show off the new Auto Union With so much recognition coming his way, the drawing boards for the future. As before, Type A car. Auto Union team manager Willy Walb Porsche was given much greater freedom at cost was not a limitation and Porsche reacted stands across from Stuck. On March 6th Stuck set Daimler. He decided to redesign the Targa car with enthusiasm. The chassis of a two-ton mon- three new world records at the fast Avus track near and replace the four-cylinder, two-liter engine ster 24-100-140 limousine was shortened and Berlin. On October 20th Auto Union returned to Avus with a new, supercharged, straight-eight also dis- lowered under Porsche’s direction to provide a and this time Stuck set five more records. placing two-liters. Unlike the previous Daimler better center-of-gravity. Upon the frame was set 18 Volume 32, Number 2 -356 Registry a 6¼ liter supercharged engine along with a new but engine size and type was left open because where additional funds would come from, the lightened body. The designation Mercedes K for officials felt they were controlling speed by set- professor gathered his team together on No- Kurz (short) was applied to the new four-seat ting a maximum weight. Mercedes engineers vember 15, 1932 and laid out his radical design open touring car that first appeared in 1926. however decided they could take the big, approach for a new Type 22 racer capable of Porsche was on a roll and a year later the S Porsche-designed supercharged engines and fit 182 mph. The engine was to be a 4.36 liter su- (sport) version came out with a 6.8 liter engine them onto a chassis and body that met weight percharged V16 mounted behind the driver. The that produced 120 hp normally aspirated or 180 restrictions. This set the technical stage for Mer- configuration was chosen to maximize weight hp with the blower engaged. It started its race cedes’ re-entry into Grand Prix racing. The busi- over the rear wheels and hence improve trac- career by sweeping the Nürburgring inaugural ness plan was solidified when Germany’s new tion. Sixteen cylinders were specified to provide event taking the top three spots. It also proved to leader, Adolf Hitler, told Mercedes executives more surface area for reducing thermal stresses. be a great success on many other European race that the Nazi party would subsidize a new Grand There are a variety of stories of how tracks and in 1928 the Mercedes S was in the Prix racer to the tune of 500,000 Reichsmarks Porsche made his connection with Hitler in victory circle a total of fifty-three times and (RM) per year. search of funding for his V-16 Grand Prix car.