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1936 Mercedes-Benz W25K – Disappointing Arrow
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D140561 ISS Debeos Studios Daniele Di Miero für MS/MCA
1934 Mercedes-Benz W25
Mercedes

1936 Mercedes-Benz W25K – Disappointing Arrow

Evolved from its predecessor, the 1936 Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix car looked entirely new and had important and enduring new features. The W25K’s failure when put to the test led to abandoned races and an overhaul of racing-car design at Mercedes.

Avatar photoKarl Ludvigsen

Nineteen thirty-five was an excellent Grand Prix season, the best against strong and varied opposition that Mercedes-Benz enjoyed in Year Two of the new 750-kilogram G.P. formula. In its second season the W25 was fully proven and raced as part of a team that was at last operating as a team, driven by two absolute aces in Rudy Caracciola and Luigi Fagioli.

Caught napping by the Germans, who had been quicker to see the potential of the new rules, Alfa Romeo and Maserati introduced new and faster cars in 1935 that threatened to be sterner rivals in 1936. And the meteoric Bernd Rosemeyer was displaying uncommon skill at the wheel of his Auto Union. Major changes in the Mercedes-Benz equipment for the formula’s third year were clearly needed.

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Karl Ludvigsen
Karl E. Ludvigsen is a journalist, author, and historian of the automotive industry and motorsports. Karl Ludvigsen is the author of the definitive history of Porsche. His Porsche history, Excellence was Expected, is considered to be a model of the researching and writing of the history of an auto company. Ludvigsen is an honorary member of the Vintage Sports Car Club of America and the Corvair Society of America. He is also a member of the council of the Historic Automobile Group.
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