Hans Stuck

Hans Stuck first met Adolf Hitler in 1925, when a mutual friend brought the budding Führer to the racing driver’s farm near Freiburg, Germany, for a day’s hunting. Hitler never forgot his day out and, after taking power on January 30, 1933, telephoned Stuck, who had been bemoaning the lack of a German car to race since both Austro-Daimler and Mercedes-Benz had dropped out of the sport.

The Reichskanzler said Stuck, then 32 years old, would get his car and asked for a list of his needs. Hans immediately contacted Professor Ferdinand Porsche, who had designed both his Austro-Daimler and the Mercedes SSKL he was racing at the time, and the two arranged to meet in Berlin together with Baron Klaus von Oertzen of Auto Union. They had an audience with the Führer during which Hitler agreed the state would partly fund German motor racing, but the money was to be divided between Auto Union and Mercedes. And so, the foundations were laid for the birth of the famous Silver Arrows.