Mercedes-Benz SSKL streamliner, 1932 - 1933

Despite the remarkable successes of the Mercedes-Benz SSKL in its debut season in 1931, the extremely dynamic developments in motorsport made a further evolutionary stage necessary after just one year. This time, however, the further development work was not initiated by Daimler-Benz, but went back to the initiative of Reinhard Freiherr von Koenig-Fachsenfeld. The Stuttgart aerodynamics pioneer had designed a streamlined aluminium body for the SSKL with an eye to the high-speed race on Berlin's AVUS in May 1932 and had approached Manfred von Brauchitsch with his idea. The latter was persuaded of the advantages of such a structure, and so took the initiative to have the body, manufactured under great time pressure by the Cannstatt company Vetter, mounted on the chassis of the otherwise technically unchanged SSKL. Although the new bodywork, which resembled an early Zeppelin, took some getting used to, its aerodynamic qualities were beyond question: the aerodynamic drag of this SSKL was reduced by 25% compared to a vehicle with standard body and the result was a maximum design speed that was 20 km/h higher.

Initially ridiculed for his bizarre-looking racing car, which he had affectionately dubbed the "cucumber" because of its shape, von Brauchitsch knew how to make the most of this advantage on the AVUS. Shortly before the end of the 294.4 km race, he pushed his car past Caracciola in an Alfa Romeo P3, who had been leading until then, and celebrated one of his first major victories with an average speed of 194.4 km/h. Radio reporter Paul Laven referred to the streamlined-bodied SSKL as a "silver arrow" in his report, and quite apart from this designation, the streamlined racing car designed by Koenig-Fachsenfeld is regarded as the link between the classic six-cylinder supercharged cars and the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows used from 1934 onwards. With the AVUS-winning car of 1932 and its sensational success, the important role of aerodynamics in motorsport became apparent in its scope for the first time.

One year later, in the run-up to the AVUS race in 1933, Daimler-Benz also had an SSKL with a streamlined body built for the reactivated Otto Merz, meanwhile 44 years old, who had been a successful works driver in Mercedes and Mercedes-Benz for many years. The bodywork was similar to that which had helped von Brauchitsch to victory the year before. The car was completed at the last second and Merz drove it to Berlin under its own power. Despite all the experience and composure he had acquired in his long career, Merz could hardly wait to start training the next day. So he went out on the wet high-speed track with unsuitable tyres and was killed in an accident. This accident also marked the end of the streamlined SSKL - one year later, the new Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix racing cars were on the grid for the first time, which were to shape motorsport events in the following years and establish a new era.