Editing Auto Union (section)

===Background===
Auto Union chairman, [[Klaus von Oertzen|Klaus, Baron von Oertzen]], wanted a showpiece project to announce the new brand. At the 1933 Berlin Motor Show, [[German Chancellor]] [[Adolf Hitler]] announced two new programs:<ref name="David">{{cite web|url=http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/auto_c.htm|title=Auto Union Type C|publisher=DDavid.com|access-date=2009-06-20|archive-date=10 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010180201/http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/auto_c.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*The people's car (''Volks wagen''): a project that became the [[Volkswagen Beetle|''KdF'' car]] – the "Strength through Joy" car 
*A state-sponsored motor racing programme: to develop a "high speed German automotive industry," the foundation of which would be an annual sum of {{Reichsmark|500,000|link=yes}}

At fellow director's [[Adolf Rosenberger]] insistence, von Oertzen met with Dr. [[Ferdinand Porsche]], who had done work for him before, and developed his own [[P-Wagen project]] racing car based on the new {{convert|750|kg|lb|abbr=on}} formula.<ref name="David"/>

German racing driver [[Hans Stuck|Hans Stuck Sr.]] had met Hitler before he became Chancellor, and not being able to gain a seat at Mercedes, accepted the invitation of Rosenberger to join him, von Oertzen, and Porsche in approaching the Chancellor. In a meeting in the [[Reich Chancellory]], Hitler agreed with Porsche that for the glory of Germany, it would be better for two companies to develop the project, resulting in Hitler agreeing to pay [[Pound sterling|£]]40,000 for the country's best racing car of 1934, as well as an annual stipend of {{Reichsmark|250,000}}<ref name="David"/> (£20,000)<ref>Setright, L. J. K. "Mercedes-Benz: The German Fountain-head", in Northey, Tom, ed. ''World of Automobiles'' (London: Orbis, 1974), Vol. 11, p.1311.</ref> each for Mercedes and Auto Union. (In time, this would climb to £250,000.)<ref name="Setright, p.1312">Setright, p.1312.</ref> This highly annoyed Mercedes, who had already developed their [[Mercedes-Benz W25]]; nevertheless, Mercedes was gratified, its racing program having financial difficulties since 1931.<ref name="Setright, p.1312"/> It resulted in a heated exchange both on and off the racing track between the two companies until World War&nbsp;II.

Having garnered state funds, Auto Union bought Porsche's ''Hochleistungsfahrzeugbau GmbH (HFB)'' (High Performance Car Ltd.) and hence the P-Wagen Project for {{Reichsmark|75,000}}, relocating the company to Auto Union's [[Horch]] plant at [[Zwickau]].<ref name="David"/>