Audi Rosemeyer

The Audi Rosemeyer is a concept car built by Audi and shown first at the Autostadt and then at auto shows across Europe during 2000. Its polished aluminium body took its look from the 1930s Auto Union Silver Arrows Grand Prix racers, and the name honours Bernd Rosemeyer, who drove the sixteen cylinder Auto Union. A naturally aspirated 8.0 litre WR16 engine sat behind the seats, rated at 522 kW (700 hp), and power went to all four wheels through Audi quattro drive. The same engine had appeared a year earlier in the Bentley Hunaudieres concept and later went into the Bugatti Veyron. Audi judged the car unfit for production because of its projected cost and because it did not want to compete with its own Lamborghini brand. The estimated top speed was 350 km/h, though the show car was not functional.