This year’s 12th annual Quail Lodge Classic Auto Auction, to be organized by Bonhams & Butterfields in Carmel, California, on August 12, will feature a 1939 Auto Union Grand Prix car last driven by the legendary Austrian Hans Stuck. The machine in question is D-Type chassis 19, and is hailed as “the only proven surviving Grand Prix car of its type.”
In the immediate aftermath of World War II, most of the Auto Union Grand Prix cars disappeared behind the Iron Curtain and ultimately became the subject of rumor and speculation. This particular car eventually found its way into the hands of Russian-born American Paul Karassik, who scoured Russia with archaeological fervor chasing the truth of the Auto Union legend. Upon acquiring the car, Karassik entrusted it to the English restoration firm of Crosthwaite & Gardiner, who returned it to 1939 spec when its rear-mounted V-12 engine developed 485 bhp at 7,000 rpm with two-stage supercharging.
Bids for this unique article of Grand Prix history are expected to reach into the $8 million range. For anyone requiring further information, Bonhams & Butterfields will present its illustrated auction catalog online at www.bonhams.com/quail in the weeks preceding the sale, for which consignments are invited.
