Silver Arrows was the name given by the press to Germany's dominant
Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union Grand Prix motor racing cars between 1934 and 1939,
and also later applied to the Mercedes-Benz Formula One and sports
cars in 1954 and 1955. For decades until the introduction of
sponsorship liveries, each country had its traditional colour in automobile
racing. Italian race cars are still famous for their Rosso Corsa red,
British ones are British racing green, French Bleu de France blue, etc.
German cars like the Blitzen Benz were white, as were the three Mercedes that
won the 1914 French Grand Prix 1-2-3. On the other hand, Mercedes won the Italian
Targa Florio with cars painted red in 1922 and 1924, blending in with the
local competitors. The big supercharged 200 hp Mercedes-Benz SSKL with which
Rudolf Caracciola won the 1931 Mille Miglia was called White Elephant.
Origin of the name = Story=
In 1958 Alfred Neubauer's biography was published, and he described the origin
of the Silver Arrows as being accidental. In 1934 the international
governing body of motor sport prescribed a maximum weight limit of 750 kg for
Grand Prix racing cars, excluding tyres and fuel. Neubauer said that when in
spring 1934, the Mercedes-Benz team placed its new Mercedes-Benz W25 on the
scrutineering scales prior to the Eifelrennen at the Nürburgring, it
allegedly recorded 751 kg. Racing manager Alfred Neubauer and his driver
Manfred von Brauchitsch, who both later published their memoirs, claimed that
they had the idea of removing all the white paint from the bodywork. The story
continues that the next day the shining silver aluminium beneath was exposed and
scrutineering was passed. After the 350 hp car of Von Brauchitsch won the race,
the nickname Silver Arrow was born, according to this version.
= Controversy= This story did not appear until 1958,
and no reference to it has been found in contemporary sources. It has since been
established that von Brauchitsch had raced a streamlined silver SSKL on the
AVUS in 1932, which was called a Silver Arrow in live radio coverage. Also, in
1934, both Mercedes and Auto Union had entered the Avusrennen with silver cars,
but neither had been able to start that race. The next big event was the 1934
Eifelrennen, but as few cars complying to the new rules were ready, it was held
for Formule Libre, so weight was still not a race-critical issue at that time.
By the 1930s, modern stressed-skin aircraft fuselage construction was
already using polished and unpainted aluminium panels for streamlining and to
save weight. Also the wealthy motor-racing fraternity would have been
aware that in Heraldry, White and Silver are the same colour or 'tincture',
described as 'Argent';. Performance
By 1937, the supercharged engine of a Mercedes-Benz W125 attained an output of
646 hp, a figure not exceeded in Grand Prix Racing until the early 1980s, when
turbo-charged engines were common in Formula One. The Silver Arrows of
Mercedes and Auto Union cars reached speeds of well over 300 kilometres per
hour in 1937, and well over 400 km/h during land speed record runs.
The superiority of these vehicles in international motor racing established
the term "Silver Arrow" as a legend, for example by usually winning the first
race in which they were entered. The names Rudolf Caracciola, Bernd
Rosemeyer, Hermann Lang, and later Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio,
will always be associated with the eras of these racing cars.
Mercedes-Benz recalled its great past in the 1970s with rallye cars, and in the
1980s with the Sauber sportscars as well as the DTM touring cars, and also the
multiple race winning Mercedes AMG F1 cars from 2010 onward.
Other car companies Now a traditional colour for road-cars
in reference to the Silver Arrows, most German car companies have a shade of
silver in their catalogues conforming to Silberpfeil-Grau, or Silver Arrow Grey.
However, the Audi and Mercedes-Benz are not the only ones who paint their cars
in a silver colour. Porsche has also inherited the tradition of silver
arrows. But the BMW company still paints its cars in the traditional white
colour. At the 1999 Le Mans 24 Hours, a total of
seven Silver Arrows were entered in the Le Mans Prototype class:
three Mercedes-Benz CLR two British-built LM-GT1 Audi R8C
two Joest Racing LMP Audi R8R that scored third and fourth.
In 2010, Ross Brawn introduced the new cars for that season as the new Silver
Arrows, with Germans Nico Rosberg and 7 time world champion Michael Schumacher
driving. In 2012, Nico Rosberg drove the W03 to victory at the Chinese Grand Prix
to claim Mercedes' first victory in Formula One since 1955. Mercedes Benz's
2014 Formula One challenger, the W05 Hybrid is as of the British Grand Prix
one of the most dominant cars in the sports history - winning the first 7
races and only falling due to an ERS failure on both cars in the Canadian
Grand Prix. Overall, the car achieved 16 wins out of 19 races and 18 pole
positions out of 19 races. This car's successor, the W06 hybrid, has also been
seen as even more of a success, attaining 14 pole positions and 12 wins
from 15 events so far in the 2015 season, with both cars finishing on the
podium in each event barring the 2015 Hungarian grand prix, where, due to
various incidents during the race, as well as the unexpected raw pace of the
Ferrari SF15-T, both cars were forced to finish in 6th position and 8th position.
Additionally, only 1 car finished the 2015 Italian Grand Prix as Nico Rosberg
had an engine failure, whereas Lewis Hamilton won the race. The 2015
Hungarian Grand Prix also marked the first time since the 2013 Brazilian
Grand Prix where neither of the Mercedes cars, as well as the teams using a
Mercedes powerplant, finished on the podium further highlighting the level of
dominance Mercedes has shown since the introduction of the 1.6 Litre
turbocharged hybrid engine formula. The from the 2014 British grand prix till
the 2015 Italian grand prix, Mercedes had achieved 23 consecutive pole
positions. The 2015 Singapore grand prix was the first time since the 2013
Brazilian grand prix that a Mercedes powered car did not qualify on the front
row of the grid. On the 11th October 2015 at the Russian grand prix, Mercedes
amg Petronas won their second consecutive constructors championship
Further reading Chris Nixon, Racing the Silver Arrows:
Mercedes-Benz versus Auto Union 1934-1939 pp. 30–37, 164-168
External links Grand Prix History, Die Silberpfeile
The Silver Arrows The Silver Arrows 75th Anniversary,
Carsguide Historical article References