The Missing Link - How do you smuggle two stolen Auto Unions out of the USSR?
Original Words by Caster & Camber
The idea of losing something fills many of us with dread. Your keys, your wallet, your phone or even your priceless pre-war Grand Prix cars which didn’t quite fall down the back of the sofa but more like disappeared behind the curtains…
This is how Audi got their stolen Auto Union's back.
Image: Audi
For those who don’t know, Audi was part of a conglomerate called Auto Union in the mid-1930s. They built passenger cars but after seeing the dominance and commercial success motorsport had bought Mercedes in the decades leading up to then, they went to one of the most chaotic and evil regimes in history to help.
Yeah, the Nazi agreed to back Auto Union with government funding.
All of this is and the P Wagen’s development is a story for another time - back to the ‘39 Type D.
As we all are fully aware, World War 2 didn’t quite go to plan for the Germans. By the beginning of 1945, the Allies (including the once friendly Soviets) began their moves on Berlin like a tidal wave.
Image: Audi
With the writing on the wall, Auto Union scattered their most prized possessions to the wind in hopes of saving them from becoming war trophies.
The cars were moved to a place called Zwickau. Unlike Mercedes whose cars ended up back in their possession soon after the war ended, the Auto Unions found themselves prisoners in a Soviet controlled landscape. With the war over, as payment for being a massive bunch of b*stards, the Russians took the Auto Unions with them in hopes of learning how these dominant racecars were so successful.
So the story goes, one surviving Auto Union (believe me, you don’t want to know what happened to the others) was given back to Germany at the start of the Cold War as a “no hard feelings” thing. It was eventually blown up in a bombing of the Deutches Museum in Munich.
In the last months of 1970, word had found it’s way by mouth and rumour from behind the iron curtain that not all of the stolen Auto Unions had been destroyed. One, may still exist in Russia. One thing - no one actually knew which one it was.
Image: Audi
Heavy hitters in the historic car world Paul and Barbara Karassik arrive in Europe to hunt down the illusive Auto Union.
The rumour mills were sparse in this case, information coming out from behind the iron curtain in the 1970s was limited to say the least. Especially if that information happened to be about a pre-war Grand Prix car. Anyway, through the decade of disco the Karassik’s followed every possible lead in the adventure of finding the lost car. Remember, at this point, no one even knew what car it was. Just it ‘might’ be an Auto Union.
During their time hunting down the car, Paul Karassik managed to find himself a few contacts within Russia to try and help find the car. This wasn’t easy, trying to get information out of the USSR about something that shouldn’t have been there in the first place. But, one contact had some news for Paul and Barbara that would change everything.
The contact confirmed the existence of not one, but two pre-war Auto Unions held captive behind the Iron Curtain. One was in Ukraine, and the other had been hidden in Russia.
After some negotiations and the little know art form called “Soviet form filling” the USSR were ok with the cars leaving. The contact who had helped the Karassik’s had sent over a parts list for each of the cars so they had an idea of what was there and what was missing. There was complete chassis’s, axle sets, gearboxes and the all important Auto Union engines.
Well with the inventory confirmed and the paperwork organised for the cars to leave the Eastern Block, a deal was done that meant these two, by then, 50 year race cars were boxed up in their respective homes and sent to the warm, sunny climes of Florida. Home of Paul and Barbara Karrasik and their collection.
Now, these cars weren’t in good shape. In fact, some have actually said they were hardly cars at all. Not so much barn-finds as parts bins. So, after taking stock at what could be seen. The Karassik’s need to come up with a plan for these two very important pieces of German auto motive history. Oh, and they wanted to figure out what they had in their hands too.
The rumour mills were sparse in this case, information coming out from behind the iron curtain in the 1970s was limited to say the least. Especially if that information happened to be about a pre-war Grand Prix car. Anyway, through the decade of disco the Karassik’s followed every possible lead in the adventure of finding the lost car. Remember, at this point, no one even knew what car it was. Just it ‘might’ be an Auto Union.
During their time hunting down the car, Paul Karassik managed to find himself a few contacts within Russia to try and help find the car. This wasn’t easy, trying to get information out of the USSR about something that shouldn’t have been there in the first place. But, one contact had some news for Paul and Barbara that would change everything.
The contact confirmed the existence of not one, but two pre-war Auto Unions held captive behind the Iron Curtain. One was in Ukraine, and the other had been hidden in Russia.
After some negotiations and the little know art form called “Soviet form filling” the USSR were ok with the cars leaving. The contact who had helped the Karassik’s had sent over a parts list for each of the cars so they had an idea of what was there and what was missing. There was complete chassis’s, axle sets, gearboxes and the all important Auto Union engines.
Well with the inventory confirmed and the paperwork organised for the cars to leave the Eastern Block, a deal was done that meant these two, by then, 50 year race cars were boxed up in their respective homes and sent to the warm, sunny climes of Florida. Home of Paul and Barbara Karrasik and their collection.
Now, these cars weren’t in good shape. In fact, some have actually said they were hardly cars at all. Not so much barn-finds as parts bins. So, after taking stock at what could be seen. The Karassik’s need to come up with a plan for these two very important pieces of German auto motive history. Oh, and they wanted to figure out what they had in their hands too.
With the ‘39 Auto Union now safely in the hands of its new owner in Florida, more of its story into how it became the only survivor began to trickle out from behind the eastern block.
Image: Audi
The 13 cars, which included Type A, B, C and D’s) were some of the marques most successful racers. Rumour has it that the Red Army was under special orders to retrieve Nouvalari’s cars because of his dominance in pre-war Grand Prix racing.
Each of the 13 cars were loaded into trains and sent East to Moscow and ultimately to meet their fate.
Once they arrived, the night of the Soviet industrial complex to control. The cars were to be sent to NAMI (the Soviet automotive engineering institute). They were to be then forwarded onto various localised research institutes to gain as much knowledge as possible on these fabulous race cars.
All of this is to do with some really unfortunate timing. See, Soviet car manufacturers and design companies had been given the orders to figure out how to make the USSR dominant in racing, the 13 Auto Unions were to be the sacrifices.
The cars were essentially copied piece by piece. And when the Soviets couldn’t build a part nearly as good, they just stripped it off the 13 sisters.
We know that 3 of the cars were sent to the manufacturer GAZ in 1945. In 1946, after firing up one car with the old fuel still in the tank) they took one car out on a demo run near Gorky but couldn’t control the car and ended up killing 18 people. After that, the government banned showing off anything that wasn’t Soviet technology. GAZ got to work making their own car… but in fact it was a Frankensteins monster made of most of the other Auto Unions parts. So much so, that there was barely anything left. Merely barren carcasses of what were once legends.
But, GAZ weren’t the only manufacturers to be given Auto Unions. And turns out, after the company ZiS had been given a couple, they’d worked out just how special these things were…
The fate of the Gaz cars after being cannibalised is unknown. Many believe that piece by piece, the cars were lost to the mystery of time until nothing was left. But Gaz weren’t the only manufacturer to be given some of the 13 Auto Unions.
Two of the 13 found their way into the workshops of ZiL (or ZiS as it was then) to be stripped down and analysed. However, the engineers at ZiL only dismantled one of the cars. This was later completely destroyed but the other car remained near enough completely intact.
The remaining car was then circulated about in rumour through the classic car channels to Latvian collector Viktors Kulbergs. It was Viktor who would jump through the initial Soviet hoops when one day, someone at the ZiL workshops rang him to say “you need to come get it, or it’s getting cut up for scrap”. Yeah, so in a full “help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope” moment, Viktors had to get the car out. And in 1976, it finally happened.
Once Viktors got his new Auto Union back to Riga (actually on the back of ZiL truck fortunately bound for Latvia) he found the car wasn’t the 1939 Type D but something all together unique.
Two of the 13 found their way into the workshops of ZiL (or ZiS as it was then) to be stripped down and analysed. However, the engineers at ZiL only dismantled one of the cars. This was later completely destroyed but the other car remained near enough completely intact.
The remaining car was then circulated about in rumour through the classic car channels to Latvian collector Viktors Kulbergs. It was Viktor who would jump through the initial Soviet hoops when one day, someone at the ZiL workshops rang him to say “you need to come get it, or it’s getting cut up for scrap”. Yeah, so in a full “help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope” moment, Viktors had to get the car out. And in 1976, it finally happened.
Once Viktors got his new Auto Union back to Riga (actually on the back of ZiL truck fortunately bound for Latvia) he found the car wasn’t the 1939 Type D but something all together unique.
Image: Audi
It was the ultra rare Type C/D hillclimb special. The famous twin rear wheel, supercharged V16 psycho which when driven by Nouvolari or Stuck was poetry in motion. This car is actually now back in the hands of Audi after giving the Riga Motor Museum a sh*t-ton of money and an exact replica of the car.
The car was pride of place in the museum. At the time, it was believed to be the only, and most complete, Auto Union in the world. But, it wasn’t the one that our two American treasure hunters would end up with.
So where do Paul and Barbra Karassik, who we mentioned in the first part, come into the story? And where was there Auto Union? Well, we need to look a little bit more into how things got done in the USSR of the 1970s.
The information that led Paul and Barbara Karassik to their Auto Union had travelled through the grape vine, slowly wrapping itself up and untangling as it made its way out of the Iron Curtain.
Paul was the son of Russian immigrants and had built up a very successful business, and with this his passion and hobby for pre-war cars. Apparently, the Karassik collection came from all over the world but in the 1970s, they turned their eyes on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
A place known to be hiding stolen war-time treasures, which could be bought if you knew who and how much to “motivate” someone.
For example, the Karassik’s found an ultra-rare Mercedes and a DKW in Bulgaria. Buying the cars wasn’t difficult, but the customs documents were getting tricky until the customs officer said he has been looking for some new tyres for his car… Wouldn’t you know it, a “gift” from the Karassik’s and the cars were on their way out of the USSR.
That also leads into the Auto Union story. Not long after, Paul and Barbara met a group of Poles who heard they were looking for old cars. This, is where the story really begins.
Everyone was under the assumption that every single one of the 13 except Viktor Kulbergs car had been destroyed. But, some had heard first hand stories of lost Auto Unions deep in the heart of the Motherland.
1982, Paul arrived in Russia under a heavily supervised package tour. Thanks to his Russian background, he spoke Russian perfectly and could organise meetings and talk to leads. This proved tricky as many people lived in fear of the KGB finding out they’d told a westerner about some state secret or that Karassik was part of the KGB.
Anyway, this slowed down the search for the missing cars greatly. What did get people talking apparently was drinking. Lots and lots of drinking.
In 1984/85, while wining and dining a contact in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, he would stumble upon the information he was looking for and begin the ball rolling.
Their was talk of an engine in Leningrad, now St Petersburg. After seeing one single grainy photo, Paul knew he was onto something.
The chase, was on.
Paul was the son of Russian immigrants and had built up a very successful business, and with this his passion and hobby for pre-war cars. Apparently, the Karassik collection came from all over the world but in the 1970s, they turned their eyes on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
A place known to be hiding stolen war-time treasures, which could be bought if you knew who and how much to “motivate” someone.
For example, the Karassik’s found an ultra-rare Mercedes and a DKW in Bulgaria. Buying the cars wasn’t difficult, but the customs documents were getting tricky until the customs officer said he has been looking for some new tyres for his car… Wouldn’t you know it, a “gift” from the Karassik’s and the cars were on their way out of the USSR.
That also leads into the Auto Union story. Not long after, Paul and Barbara met a group of Poles who heard they were looking for old cars. This, is where the story really begins.
Everyone was under the assumption that every single one of the 13 except Viktor Kulbergs car had been destroyed. But, some had heard first hand stories of lost Auto Unions deep in the heart of the Motherland.
1982, Paul arrived in Russia under a heavily supervised package tour. Thanks to his Russian background, he spoke Russian perfectly and could organise meetings and talk to leads. This proved tricky as many people lived in fear of the KGB finding out they’d told a westerner about some state secret or that Karassik was part of the KGB.
Anyway, this slowed down the search for the missing cars greatly. What did get people talking apparently was drinking. Lots and lots of drinking.
In 1984/85, while wining and dining a contact in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, he would stumble upon the information he was looking for and begin the ball rolling.
Their was talk of an engine in Leningrad, now St Petersburg. After seeing one single grainy photo, Paul knew he was onto something.
The chase, was on.
Image: Audi
From a single grainy photo shown to him in Lithuania, Paul Karassik knew that he had finally tracked down one of the missing Auto Unions. But, he had no idea which one.Either way, he had to have it. What he saw in the photos was unmistakably an Auto Union V12 engine, a chassis and some other parts and pieces scattered around. But how do you get something like that out of the USSR? Again, this is is where money and b*lls do you proud.
Karassik and his wife loaded up all of the parts into a campervan, gave the owner a load of foreign money and just headed out of the country with it.
What Paul and Barbara had just bought, would turn out to be a 1938 Auto Union Type D. And that would turn out to be something very special itself.
It’s at this point, the story begins to meander away from the actual car but it’s all relevant to the story of the ‘38.
Upon returning to the US with the Type D, a lady reached out to the Karrasik’s for help. She was originally from Ukraine, in WW2 the Germans had taken her and after the war she was taken to the US. Well, she’d left a daughter in Ukraine and wanted to know she was ok. Paul and Barbara on their next trip, sought her out and got her in touch with her mum.
With the reunion of mother and daughter successful through the iron curtain, they began to write each other. The mother mentioned how Paul and Barbara were trying to track down a legendary Soviet engineer called Valery Nitkin but couldn’t find him anywhere. Nitkin was part of the puzzle because he had been a key part in the Soviet motorsports programme along with many of the Soviet record attempts and dismantling of the stolen Auto Unions.
Call it fate, divine intervention or just a beautiful case of luck - the daughter replied to her mums letter saying that she was surprised Paul and Barbara hadn’t mentioned their search for the elusive Nitkin. Because he was currently working with her husband at the local factory… and his name was actually Konstantin Nitkin.
Before the mother had finished giving Paul and Barbara this information, their bags were packed and they were headed back into the USSR once more.
They had found Nitkin. But, who was Konstantin “Valery” Nitkin? Well, he was a bit of a legend in Soviet engineering. During the ‘50s and ‘60s, Nitkin had engineered and headed up the teams who built several Soviet record cars. But, the question on a few peoples minds was where did he get that inspiration and where was that inspiration now?
Ok, so it turns out that Nitkin actually managed to get hold of two or three of the 13 Auto Unions from the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute. The cars were taken away to be researched and analysed, except for one detail Nitkin let Karassik know which nearly made him puke. Apparently, they wanted to see how the impressive V12 worked (so would I, it was a masterpiece). They tried to disassemble it using the tools they had and what they could find but turns out, it’s built a lot harder than they thought. With the pressure mounting to see results… they cut the engine in half… with a saw.
The Karassik’s built up a relationship with Nitkin. A Soviet hero, a decorated engineer and brilliant thinker but living in almost poverty and no one knew what he had done. Paul and Barbara built up a relationship with Valery over several visits to Ukraine until eventually, he decided to let them in on a secret.
During one the Karassik’s visits, Nitkin said he wanted to show them something. A nearly 40 year old secret.
He took Paul and Barbara to an old workshop he once used and in there, lay some of Paul’s wildest dreams. Most evident, was the full bodywork for an Auto Union Type D. Then looking further (and hidden in certain places of a nearby brickworks) the Karassik’s uncovered more of Nitkin’s past. A full engine, gearboxes, a complete chassis, a complete supercharger unit, carburettors and other odds and ends.
It was the best haul they’d ever got but, the last one was a nightmare to get out the country. So, the process started with no guarantee the Soviet’s would even let it leave.
Ok, so it turns out that Nitkin actually managed to get hold of two or three of the 13 Auto Unions from the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute. The cars were taken away to be researched and analysed, except for one detail Nitkin let Karassik know which nearly made him puke. Apparently, they wanted to see how the impressive V12 worked (so would I, it was a masterpiece). They tried to disassemble it using the tools they had and what they could find but turns out, it’s built a lot harder than they thought. With the pressure mounting to see results… they cut the engine in half… with a saw.
The Karassik’s built up a relationship with Nitkin. A Soviet hero, a decorated engineer and brilliant thinker but living in almost poverty and no one knew what he had done. Paul and Barbara built up a relationship with Valery over several visits to Ukraine until eventually, he decided to let them in on a secret.
During one the Karassik’s visits, Nitkin said he wanted to show them something. A nearly 40 year old secret.
He took Paul and Barbara to an old workshop he once used and in there, lay some of Paul’s wildest dreams. Most evident, was the full bodywork for an Auto Union Type D. Then looking further (and hidden in certain places of a nearby brickworks) the Karassik’s uncovered more of Nitkin’s past. A full engine, gearboxes, a complete chassis, a complete supercharger unit, carburettors and other odds and ends.
It was the best haul they’d ever got but, the last one was a nightmare to get out the country. So, the process started with no guarantee the Soviet’s would even let it leave.
After buying up the whole find, the Karassik’s still need a way of getting it all out of Ukraine in one single, swift movement. But, they had a plan.
They quickly popped over to Austria, bought a Mercedes bus, filled it with beer, coco cola, chocolate, cigarettes and make-up and headed back towards Ukraine.
Why was it filled with these bits and pieces? In case anyone at the border needed anything… the car and every other scrap of the Type D was loaded into the bus and the couple set out for the Finish border - a two week drive away on the terrible roads.
Once safely out of the USSR, the Type D was packed into shipping crates and air freighted to the US.
This car, and the Lithuanian Type C are now known to be two of the 5 remaining Auto Unions. And 2 of 3 which escaped the USSR.
In 1990, the cars were inspected by a team from Audi Tradition who authenticated both of the cars. They also would act as advisers for the upcoming restoration of the cars. But, who do you get to complete rebuild and restore a handmade, pre-war GP car which has been sat behind the iron curtain for decades?
Well, you ring the supermen which are Crossthwaite & Gardiner and see if they’re busy.
So after having a look over everything; the plan was hatched for what was going to happen. One Type D would be built to ‘38 specification (single supercharger) and the other would become a ‘39 spec car with a twin-supercharger set up.
Most of what was needed to the job was there, but this wasn’t an afternoons worth of work. This, was going to be huge.
They quickly popped over to Austria, bought a Mercedes bus, filled it with beer, coco cola, chocolate, cigarettes and make-up and headed back towards Ukraine.
Why was it filled with these bits and pieces? In case anyone at the border needed anything… the car and every other scrap of the Type D was loaded into the bus and the couple set out for the Finish border - a two week drive away on the terrible roads.
Once safely out of the USSR, the Type D was packed into shipping crates and air freighted to the US.
This car, and the Lithuanian Type C are now known to be two of the 5 remaining Auto Unions. And 2 of 3 which escaped the USSR.
In 1990, the cars were inspected by a team from Audi Tradition who authenticated both of the cars. They also would act as advisers for the upcoming restoration of the cars. But, who do you get to complete rebuild and restore a handmade, pre-war GP car which has been sat behind the iron curtain for decades?
Well, you ring the supermen which are Crossthwaite & Gardiner and see if they’re busy.
So after having a look over everything; the plan was hatched for what was going to happen. One Type D would be built to ‘38 specification (single supercharger) and the other would become a ‘39 spec car with a twin-supercharger set up.
Most of what was needed to the job was there, but this wasn’t an afternoons worth of work. This, was going to be huge.
So you’ve got hold of a nearly priceless pre-war Grand Prix car that no one has seen for nearly 50 years and everyone who had worked on them was either dead or couldn’t talk about it. What do you do when you need it put back together in a very particular way and sort out the missing parts? Well, you call up Crossthwaite & Gardiner and ask them to take on the project.
Crosthwaite and Gardiner, if you’re in the vintage car world, are some of the heaviest hitters out there. True legends in the community for their attention to detail, execution and skill which all comes from a nearly pathological passion to maintain and preserve automotive history - the perfect team to take on rebuilding the newly discovered 1938 Auto Union Type D’s.
This was all around 1990. Long before the internets ability to bring up reference photos and bits at the click of a button, this was old school detective work and know-how.
The first of the cars, the twin-supercharged ‘38 spec car was finished in 1993 to much interest. The first of these cars (including the Lithuanian Type C) to truly be recognised around the world as important. A year later, the 1939 car was completed (also with two superchargers) and unveiled to the public.
Crosthwaite and Gardiner, if you’re in the vintage car world, are some of the heaviest hitters out there. True legends in the community for their attention to detail, execution and skill which all comes from a nearly pathological passion to maintain and preserve automotive history - the perfect team to take on rebuilding the newly discovered 1938 Auto Union Type D’s.
This was all around 1990. Long before the internets ability to bring up reference photos and bits at the click of a button, this was old school detective work and know-how.
The first of the cars, the twin-supercharged ‘38 spec car was finished in 1993 to much interest. The first of these cars (including the Lithuanian Type C) to truly be recognised around the world as important. A year later, the 1939 car was completed (also with two superchargers) and unveiled to the public.
The standard that the guys at Crosthwaite and Gardiner had achieved caught the eye of everyone who saw it. So much so, the cars were invited to be on the grid for the Eiffel Classic in November of 1994. The first time they had seen the track in nearly 50 decades.
Image: Audi
So impressive was the work done to the cars and the level of detail that the team had gone to plus all the hardwork by the Karassik’s, that Audi actually bought the 1938 car soon after, adding to the collection of the Lithuanian Type C. Several years later, after much fanfare for the car and deciding the time was right, the 1939 car was sold by Paul and Barbara to Audi in order to join its sisters in Ingolstadt. The three original Silver Arrow sisters were now finally back at home to bolster Audis history and be a monument to the passion and dedication of the classic car world we find ourselves in.
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