Audi will enter Formula 1 in 2026, competing at the pinnacle of motorsport. To mark the occasion, Audi Tradition is looking back at the origins of Grand Prix racing in a special exhibition titled “Legends of Grand Prix.” From December 16, 2025, until the start of the new Formula 1 season on March 8, 2026, the Audi museum mobile will display fascinating racing cars from more than 100 years of history, including the winning car from the very first Grand Prix race, Michael Schumacher’s first Formula 1 car, and the legendary Silver Arrows: the Auto Union Grand Prix racing cars Type A, Type C, and Type D.

With its entry into the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, Audi is breaking new ground. At the same time, the brand with the four rings can look back on a successful motorsport history, with unforgettable highlights including historic victories in the World Rally Championship, successes in the DTM and on the circuit in the USA, and 13 victories in the world’s toughest endurance race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As early as the 1920s, the predecessor brand NSU was at the top of the podium in Grand Prix races, and the legendary Silver Arrows of Auto Union dominated the top league of racing in the 1930s.

The exhibition first goes back to the early Grand Prix era, then takes us through the era of the Auto Union Silver Arrows and the 75-year history of Formula 1 from the early post-war racing cars to the present day. Stefan Trauf, Head of Audi Tradition, says: “With our special exhibition, ‘Legends of Grand Prix’, we want to shorten the winter break in Formula 1 for all fans and present many spectacular exhibits from the history of motorsport’s premier class until the first race of the new season.”

It is not only Formula 1 fans who will get their money’s worth at the exhibition, but also anyone who enjoys historical racing. Curator Stefan Felber is particularly proud of the Renault AK 90 CV: “It is the first vehicle in our exhibition. With it, we go back to the early Grand Prix era.” On June 26, 1906, French-Hungarian racing driver Ferenc Szisz made motorsport history at the wheel of such a 90 PS Renault: the then 33-year-old engineer won the French Grand Prix, considered the first Grand Prix race ever held.

Exhibition organizer Stefan Felber adds: “Unfortunately, the original vehicle no longer exists. However, we were able to borrow a detailed replica from the Vintage Classic Car Collection in Holland.” The new special exhibition also features a Talbot-Lago T26 C from the early days of F1 with a 240 PS inline six-cylinder naturally aspirated engine. Five Talbot-Lago T26 Cs competed in the very first Formula 1 race, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on May 13, 1950.

The NSU 6/60 PS is an exhibition highlight from the AUDI AG historic vehicle collection. The first six-cylinder model from Neckarsulm has an output of 60 PS, weighs 830 kilograms, and has a top speed of 175 km/h. Almost 100 years ago, on July 11, 1926, NSU celebrated a highly acclaimed quadruple victory in the 1.5-liter class at the first German Grand Prix at the AVUS with its all-white racing car. Another highlight of the exhibition is the Bugatti Type 35 C – one of the most successful racing cars of all time. Its eight-cylinder engine delivers 95 PS thanks to a twin carburetor; with the Roots supercharger used since 1926, the power output increases to up to 130 PS. Other vehicles in the exhibition include a 1928 Wanderer W8; the Auto Union Grand Prix racing cars Type A, Type C and Type D from the 1930s; a Cisitalia 360 from 1947; a Toleman-Hart TG184 from 1984, which Ayrton Senna also drove; and a Jordan 191 from 1991, in which Michael Schumacher drove his first F1 race. The two most recent models, the Sauber C31 from 2012 and the F1 show car with Audi Launch Livery from 2022, complete the exhibition and take visitors into the preparatory phase of the 2026 Formula 1 season, in which Audi will be competing for points with its own factory team for the first time.

The Audi museum mobile at the Audi Forum Ingolstadt is open Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays. It is closed from December 22, 2025 until January 6, 2026. Meanwhile you can discover the special exhibition “Legends of Grands Prix” anytime via the Audi Tradition app which is available at the App Store and the Google Play Store.

Article source: www.audi-mediacenter.com