“ A rare thing this, it's the first we've had at our facility in fact. Absolutely lovely! ”
If you fancy a touch of 1950’s American style but don’t have the space in your garage for a Ford Thunderbird, this Auto Union 1000 SP has got your name written all over it.

Background
The Auto Union 1000 SP broke cover in 1958. Powered by the firm’s quirky three-cylinder, two-stroke engine, its diminutive capacity of just 981cc nonetheless produces 55bhp and 65lb.ft of torque.

A light car at just 950kgs, it sits on skinny tyres and is stirred along using a four-speed manual gearbox. Decently quick for the time, it is reputed to be capable of reaching 62mph in 22 seconds on its way to a top speed of around 90mph.

(A 1,280cc V6 was produced in 1959, but just 50 examples were ever built, making them vanishingly rare.)

Offered as a convertible or a coupé, the tin-top outnumbered the ragtop by a ratio of around 3:1, selling 5,004 of the former and just 1,640 of the latter in its eight-year production run.

Built in West Germany, the 1000 SP was the last convertible built by the firm until the Audi 80 arrived, usually with Princess Di behind the wheel, in 1992.

Overview
A 1959 Auto Union 1000 SP, ‘373 XVR’ arrived in the UK from South Africa in 2021 accompanied by a generous history file that contained both its import paperwork and invoices for significant mechanical refurbishment.

The seller’s collection primarily comprises American cars, but he stumbled across this when he was looking for something else, and couldn’t resist its combination of its motorcycle-like engine and Thunderbird-inspired looks.

And he hasn’t been afraid to use it, roaming far and wide visiting classic car shows in complete reliability – and as you can imagine, the 1000 SP draws an awful lot of interest wherever it goes.

Exterior
The Auto Union’s coachwork is very good indeed, and while no one at modern-day Audi would be happy with the shutlines, they’re nicely tight and consistent for a car of this period.

The flanks are free of ripples and wobbles too, and we struggled to find any dents or dinks either. The combination of red bodywork and a white rook magnify the car’s American-influenced lines, and the tailfins are a design flourish we doubt we’d ever tire of seeing; this is a car you will always look back at after parking it up.

It’s got bullet-shaped rear lights and front sidelights too and as for the chromework – and given the cars that influenced it there’s a lot of brightwork – this too is in a very good condition with little more than light pitting and tarnishing across all the fixtures and fittings plus one small dink on the offside front bumper.

The 15-inch steel wheels look terrific too, not only for their condition but for the fact their 12 perimeter holes are reflected in the outer chrome wheel trims. Both these and the domed chrome hubcaps are in good order. It even has its original locking fuel filler cap, a very rare thing these days!

The tyres are 165/80R15 Vredestein T-Trac 2; made in 2021, all have good tread.

We will never get tired of telling you that experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly.

The badges are in good shape too, including the ‘four-ring’ Audi badge on the boot lid.

The aluminium “DKW-MIXER” petrol cap is both beautiful and quirky – and with petrol prices being what they are, anything that helps to ease the pain of filling up has got to be a good thing, eh?

Finally, the rear screen has a couple of stickers in it from its time in South Africa, which adds provenance and suggests long-term enthusiast ownership.

As for issues, our inspection revealed a chip to the offside of the windscreen, cracks to the finish at the top of the nearside A-pillar, and areas of touched-up paint near the front grille and both rear wings.

The rubber windscreen, rear screen, and door seals have perished, so you might like to start searching for replacements. While you’re at it you might like to see how easy it is to get a rear light lens because the offside one has moderate UV-damage. The nearside door mirror is also missing its glass, and the holes that have been drilled along both sills suggest there should be trims there too.

More urgent are the bubbles on the roof, tailgate, and along the flanks, which need investigating.

View the car and current bid price HERE