Here’s how Adolf Hitler got Mercedes-Benz into racing
A few names dominate racing at the international level. Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz are still among those top-performing marques. However, a brand typically doesn’t break into racing without a long history of proving its mettle. Unfortunately for Mercedes-Benz, the German marque’s racing tenure has origins with none other than Adolf Hitler.
Dictator Adolf Hitler recognized racing’s importance for national identity and incentivized Mercedes-Benz to take on the track
In his book Go Like Hell, A.J. Baime gets into the gritty details of how Ford and Ferrari would eventually lock horns in front of the world at Le Mans. However, the immortal feud between the two Titans didn’t start without a long, arduous history of racing rises and falls. That said, part of Ferrari’s racing successes originated with Adolf Hitler and his push to put Mercedes-Benz racing on the map.
“During the 1930s, German chancellor Adolf Hitler began to understand the symbolism behind the Grand Prix car,” Baime wrote about Hitler’s motorsport impetus. It was more than a reckless racing machine. It was a literal nationalism vehicle. As such, the dictator prioritized German racing to promote national identity.
“He offered huge sums of reichsmarks to any German firm that could produce a successful racer.” The dangled carrot worked. Adolf Hitler would have his all-star racers. The result was a collection of “Silver Arrows,” racecars from Mercedes-Benz and Auto-Union, the marque that would become Audi.
Incidentally, the name was apropos. The shining 1930s racing machines ditched paintwork in the pursuit of speed. Consequently, the Silver Arrows won race after race. By 1935, they were a force in the Grand Prix landscape.
However, in July of that same year, Scuderia Ferrari fielded a car for the German Grand Prix at the storied Nürburgring. Better yet, with consummate racing driver Tazio Nuvolari, the Prancing Horse-adorned racecar stood a fighting chance.
Mercedes-Benz racer Manfred Von Brauchitsch led the race into the final lap. However, Brauchitsch’s tire burst, leading the landed German to lose speed. Nuvolari overtook the wounded Mercedes and took the win.
