23d Auto Union Racing Car / Large Closed Racing Car (1936-1950)

Bought at the Houten Fair today: the best example of a silver Auto Union Racing Car I have ever seen. A very early post-war beauty, showing thick axles but smooth hubs and the very short-lived post-war driver. This example has a shiny black painted base plate, contrary to my slightly later silver one, which has the more familiar silverish base plate. The tiny letters have a kind of 'engraved' appearance, the black base plate showing a poor covering of the letters by the black paint. Still, the model is so very authentic, that the base plate's finishmust be the same. A wonderful 'as new' example, which will replace my nicely repainted silver one, the very last repaint to leavethe collection. In fact the post-war name of the Auto Union model, not often seen, is: Large Closed Racing Car, as opposed to 23b, the Small Closed Racing Car, the former Hotchkiss Racing Car. And the open ones: 23c Large Open Racing Car, the former Mercedes-Benz Racing Car and 23a Small Open Racing Car, the former Racing Car. Some photos to follow below, kind regards, Jan

A beautiful addition Jan,and a most unusual one too.I have never seen one quite like that,with the black baseplateand the ' engraved ' lettering.I also do not remember seeing a driver in a post war version.....must have been right afterthe war.Wonderful photosand a very nice acquisition ! Regards,Terry

Hi Terry,thanks for your comment.Indeed the post - war driver was short - lived.It disappeared very soon,together with the change fromsmooth to ridged hubsand it was finished in silver only.The very earliest examples of 1936 are without driver ( and racing number) tooand without the internal slots to accommodate it.End 1936 a driver - in white only - was added.All as far as I know...Keith Harvie showed the Meccano factory drawings 10251and 10252 in his praised short - lived Binns Road Gazette,no.1 / 6 of Nov / Dec 1999,pages 27 -29.Kind regards Jan

Hi Jan,I have an early postwar 23c Auto Unionwith driver,in RED,with black base plate.An interesting feature is the smooth crank case (as on your model),contrary to the grooved crank cases of all the earlierand later models.I hope I can manage to uploade a picture.Best regards Walter

Here is the picture (I guess)

Seen on the web.Richard

[img]/images/sites/default/files/forum-images/Auto union (4).JPG[/img]

Ah,interesting to know,Walter,thank you,I wasn ' t aware of that yet ! I found a base plate photo of my existing later issue example,a repaint,but the base plate is left as it originally wasand - indeed - it has the more grooved crank case.And Richard,that ' s a mouthwatering half a dozen,incredible,so nice...Kind regards,Jan

An another photo to show the drivers ! Richard

[img]/images/sites/default/files/forum-images/Auto union (8).JPG[/img]

Looks like the 23d box that was sold on ebay france back in 2009,RIchard.I can ' t make out the date code,can you ?

No Al,I can ' t Richard

My english 23D auto unionwith its sister,the french 23D.New game: how many differences ? Richard

Let ' s give it a try: 1.Black base plate ' Fabrique en France par Meccano ' 2.Rear axle not protruding the fenders 3.Black smooth tyres ' M ',a little smaller in diameter 4.Some without racing numbers 5.Green color 6.Red rims 7.Still prone to metal fatigue What else ? Walter