Press "Enter" to skip to content

Category: Motorsports Monday

This site contains Ebay partner affiliate links, which may earn us a commission at no additional cost to you.

Motorsports Monday Special: Racing to Sell – The ‘Silberpfeil’: Part 6

Motorsports Monday Special: Racing to Sell – The ‘Silberpfeil’: Part 6

Published April 13, 2015 by Carter

SA41
Start of the 1939 German Grand Prix with Auto Union Type D and Mercedes-Benz W154 M163s – their last meeting in the nation of their birth

Yesterday saw an interesting comparison in racing; in F1, Mercedes-Benz once again dominated the field with seeming ease, dictating the pace and watching the strategy of its competitors from Maranello. While truth told my focus remained squarely on the Formula 1 race, there were several other popular race series running concurrently; both wildly popular Moto GP and World Endurance Championship races were contested as well. Notably, Audi won the WEC Silverstone 6-hour contest, continuing its quite remarkable run in endurance series amidst rumors that they could be heading to Formula 1. The question posed by me in my conclusion to the investigation of the Silver Arrows period is simply if the racing was necessary? There were other options in terms of racing for both companies to explore, and indeed they could also have taken the Opel strategy in no racing at all. Did the companies choose the right route?

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our readers for the positive feedback to this feature. It’s been wonderful for me to revisit this research and have the enthusiast community enjoy it. I’d also like to thank Dan and Paul at GCFSB for not only affording me the opportunity to put this research up, but indeed for encouraging me to do so. Though they’re not likely to be paying attention I’d like to thank the Saxony State Archives in Chemnitz and the staff at the Mercedes-Benz factory archives, both of which were very welcoming and accommodating during my time there. Lastly, I’d like to thank my family who has been both encouraging and patient while I’ve spent countless hours working on this site. Without further ado, please enjoy the conclusion!

Link to Part 1

Link to Part 2

Link To Part 3

Link To Part 4

Link To Part 5

CONCLUSIONS : WAS RACING NECESSARY?

Read Our PostMotorsports Monday Special: Racing to Sell – The ‘Silberpfeil’: Part 6
Comments closed
Motorsports Monday Special: Racing to Sell – The ‘Silberpfeil’: Part 5

Motorsports Monday Special: Racing to Sell – The ‘Silberpfeil’: Part 5

Published April 6, 2015 by Carter

SA30
A 1936 Auto Union Type C sits below a similarly streamlined Junkers JU-86 at an exposition

As we saw in the last few installments, Daimler-Benz and Auto Union had heavily engaged in racing – a massive investment for both, pushing the boundaries of existing technology and redefining how motor racing was to be undertaken. The question in today’s installment was who this methodical approach to racing benefited the most. Was the government’s investment in racing worthwhile? Was Auto Union’s gamble on building an unconventional race car a success? Were the extremes to which Daimler-Benz was willing to stretch its racing budget realized in results over the competition? Today we look at some of the more pragmatic reasons behind the motivations of both companies and some of the ideology behind government which helps explain the involvement of both.

Link to Part 1

Link to Part 2

Link To Part 3

Link To Part 4

FIVE: FOR COMPANIES, GOVERNMENT, COUNTRY?

Read Our PostMotorsports Monday Special: Racing to Sell – The ‘Silberpfeil’: Part 5
Comments closed
Motorsports Monday: 1969 Porsche 912

Motorsports Monday: 1969 Porsche 912

Published April 6, 2015 by Carter

The Porsche 912 was originally conceived as a budget model because the 911, quite simply, had become too expensive compared to the outgoing 356 model. On the surface, you got the updated looks of the 901 – but underneath was a more simple and frugal flat-4 similar to the unit from the outgoing 356. This helped to keep costs down but performance was less exciting, and for a long time the 912 was the “also ran” compared to 911. But stratospheric rises in prices – especially of early 911s – meant that it was no surprise to see the 912 get drawn up as well. The simplicity is almost more appealing than the 911 in some ways; as the adage goes, it’s more fun to drive a slow car fast, and a 912 is just the type of car that you can drive flat out without worrying about lighting your hair on fire and jumping backwards off a cliff. As with all Porsches, some of these 912 have been modified to race, such as this 1969 example:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1969 Porsche 912 on eBay

Read Our PostMotorsports Monday: 1969 Porsche 912
2 Comments
Motorsports Monday Special: Racing to Sell – The ‘Silberpfeil’: Part 4

Motorsports Monday Special: Racing to Sell – The ‘Silberpfeil’: Part 4

Published March 30, 2015 by Carter

SA20
A 1935 Auto Union Type B Streamliner used for both records and the annual Avus race in Berlin

This past weekend weekend we saw a bit of hubris and bad strategy lead to Mercedes-Benz losing to Ferrari in the Malaysian Grand Prix. Despite the massive investment and seemingly pedantic attention to detail, the same problems existed in the 1930s for the company. Increasingly Mercedes-Benz needed to differentiate itself from Auto Union by undertaking extreme efforts. These efforts were not always profitable; indeed, one could argue that – as we saw last week – since they were already having difficulty delivering cars thanks to raw material shortages, undertaking new forms of racing and record-breaking might have seemed ill-conceived for the company. However, still at stake was preferential treatment from the government, especially when it came to lucrative military contracts. As such, Mercedes-Benz undertook some unlikely projects to not only gain international prestige for the Daimler-Benz model range, but indeed to curry favor with the government.

Link to Part 1

Link to Part 2

Link To Part 3

FOUR : PUSHING THE LIMITS – THE GOVERNMENT GOES RACING

Read Our PostMotorsports Monday Special: Racing to Sell – The ‘Silberpfeil’: Part 4
2 Comments
Motorsports Monday: 1971 Porsche 911E

Motorsports Monday: 1971 Porsche 911E

Published March 30, 2015 by Paul

The Porsche 911 is a favorite when it comes to Motorsports Monday features. There are plenty of examples out there which have been race prepped by amateurs and professional race teams alike, along with some rather valuable factory built examples. They are a very versatile vehicle to go racing with, having seen action in everything from IROC to the rally circuit. This 1971 911E for sale in Atlanta has seen race action on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. It ran in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in the late 1980s and was subsequently imported to the US and raced by John Forbes and the crew at Black Forest Racing.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1971 Porsche 911E on eBay

Read Our PostMotorsports Monday: 1971 Porsche 911E
3 Comments