Auto Union / Audi

This photograph is labelled up as an Auto Union 1700, but were they ever sold in the UK as Auto Unions?

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Audi or Auto Union car

Not perhaps the most exciting car from Auto Union's past, but smart and probably of good quality too. The spiel that comes with the car's photo goes as follows ..

"The revolutionary Auto Union 1700 with the Mercedes-Benz-designed engine, will be on show for the first time in Great Britain at the International Motor Show (Earls Court, October 20-30)."

I remember seeing these cars driving around the UK in the seventies, but from memory they were badged up as Audi (80 or 100 model?) rather than as an A-U.

The four rings which make up the badge on this car hark back to the 1930s, when Auto Union drew together four existing manufacturers under one company umbrella, namely Audi, Wanderer, Horch and DKW. They merged in 1932. In 1964 VW bought Auto Union. At the end of the sixties the A-U company then merged with NSU, creating Audi NSU Auto Union AG, which was shortened to just Audi AG in 1985, and remains part of VAG (Volkswagen Audi Group) today.

[Update]
Ian dropped me a line with the following info about this car:
".. that car was originally sold in Britain as the Auto Union Audi (NOT the 1700). That was in 1966, I think. In early 1967, the Audi Super 90 was introduced, same car with a bit more power and more kit. At around this time, the Auto Union name was dropped and the cars all became known as Audis - so we had the Audi 80 (the original car), the Audi Super 90, and then a cheapo version, the Audi 70, with less power. Confused? Yes, you will be!"

A more exciting Auto Union.....

Mention Auto Union today, and I bet most people would think of their stunning rear-engined single seater racing cars from the 1930s, a summary of which can be read on this Auto Union site. The one below I photographed at Shelsley Walsh ...
Auto Union racing car

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Old Classic Car (C) R. Jones 2023. Content not to be reproduced elsewhere.

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