Audi knows it’s important to keep your eyes on the rear-view mirror.

The German luxury marque’s latest creation is one-off based on the Auto Union Lucca from the 1930. The silver speed machine was one of the fastest cars of its era and features the kind of engine that’s been sorely missing from the Audi lineup since the R8 was discontinued in 2024.

Audi may have been founded way back in 1909, but the brand as we know it today is much younger than that. In 1969, Germany’s biggest automaker, Volkswagen, acquired both Auto Union and Motorenwerke and merged the two into the company that would become the modern-day Audi. More than three decades prior, Auto Union was locked in a heated battle with Mercedes-Benz to build the fastest car—both on and off the track. And it is because of this rivalry that Lucca was born.

That car debuted in early 1935 and was one of Auto Union’s grand prix racer clad in one of the more absurd aero kits you’ll ever see. The cab-forward Rennlimousine, which translates to “racing sedan,” looks like a silver Batmobile that has had its rear end stretched to just shy of the breaking point. Just as memorable is its rear-mounted mill: a 5.0-liter V-16 that produced just shy of 340 hp. That February, following a weather-induced detour to Italy, the vehicle hit a top speed of 326.975 kph, or 203.17 mph, just north of Pisa, which was the quickest anyone had traveled on a public road up until that point. The spot where the record set? None other than the town of Lucca.

Auto Union continued to work on the car, including equipping it with a bigger V-16 in 1936, but eventually World War II started. Development ceased, and the Lucca would eventually be lost to time.

Until now, that is. The rebuild was commissioned by Audi Tradition and executed by Crosthwaite & Gardiner. Using historical photos and other archival documents, the shop faithfully recreated the vehicle over the course of three years. It also made some key upgrades. The engine, which runs on a mixture of methanol, premium unleaded, and toluene, is now a 6.0-liter V-16 that and makes 513 hp.

Does the not-insignificant power boost mean the new Lucca may be even faster than the car it’s based on? We’ll soon find out. Audi says the rebuilt racing sedan will actually run at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, which runs from July 9 to July 12.

Click here for more photos of the Auto Union Lucca.