Need for Speed: The Fastest Mercedes-Benz

Auto Union started this new craze for record‑breaking. The pastime had always been left to the British, the French, the Italians, even the Americans. Surprisingly few German names were among the cars or drivers that set new speed records in the first four decades of organized car competition. Mercedes and Benz had enjoyed their moments in the sun but their records were dusty with age, all but forgotten. Now in 1934 a rank newcomer, Auto Union, had captured one of the most prestigious figures, the world’s one‑hour record.

Rudy Caracciola helped redress the balance toward Mercedes‑Benz with successful record runs at Gyon and Avus at the end of 1934. This was viewed with favor by those who were establishing the public postures of the Third Reich. They knew that the demolition of records long held by other nations would help convince the world that a new power had been born, one with which it would be unwise to trifle. This was the time of the first Air Speed Record held by a German plane and pilot, set on November 11, 1937 by a Daimler‑Benz‑engined Messerschmitt Bf 109.