A RARE German racing car, developed in a program created by Hitler's regime, was displayed for the first time this week as auctioneers predicted it would become the world's most expensive car to be sold at auction.

The grand prix car, a 1939 Auto Union D-Type racer and one of only five originals left from the Auto Union series built in Germany between 1933 and 1939, was expected to fetch between $US12 million and $US15 million ($A19 million) at an auction on February 17 in Paris, auctioneer Christie's said.

Christie's said the car, the only one in the series held by a private owner, won the 1939 French Grand Prix. The car was displayed in New York as part of pre-auction publicity. The other surviving cars in the series are held in corporate collections.

"The car represents a leap forward in technology and engineering excellence," said Christie's spokesman Rupert Banner, adding that it could run at a top speed of 313 km/h.

It is one of the prestigious German "Silver Arrows" that were the pinnacle of Mercedes-Benz's and Auto Union's dominant grand-prix racing cars in the late 1930s.

In 1933, the German government under Adolf Hitler paid 500,000 reichmarks to Mercedes and Auto Union, now known as Audi, to develop revolutionary racing cars.

Audi's German historian, Thomas Erdmann, said the car was the last of its type in the series and there were only two original C-Types and three original D-Types left.

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