HINDSIGHT – MERCEDES-BENZ TYPE 80
Rekord krieg
A German driver has never held the land speed record in a German car, but 75 years ago it very nearly happened
BY CHARLES ARMSTRONG-WILSON I
n 1930’s Germany, a great deal of engineering was done in secret, mainly due to the Treaty of Versailles that severely restricted the
country’s re-armament. But, in 1945, when Allied forces entered the Daimler-Benz facility in Stuttgart, they discovered one project that came as a complete surprise. With six wheels and a 44.5-litre engine, the so-called Type 80 was a car designed to take the outright World Land Speed Record. What the troops found was
an incomplete car that had never run and, like everything they encountered, they documented it in great detail, in the process learning that it had a number of remarkable features designed to
help it achieve its target. During the 1930s, both the
Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union racing teams had chased speed records, but only ever class honours, using streamliners derived from their grand prix cars. Although German teams dominated grand prix racing during the decade, the Land Speed Record was held by a succession of English drivers. Between them, Malcolm Campbell, Henry Segrave, Parry Thomas, George Eyston and John Cobb had formed a small club that would hold the record almost exclusively for two decades. This obviously rankled
with the country’s star driver, Hans Stuck, who had enjoyed a glittering career with Austro-
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www.racecar-engineering.com • January 2012
Daimler, Daimler-Benz and Auto Union. Stuck decided that, if his achievements as a driver were going to be complete, he needed to hold the ultimate prize – the World Land Speed Record. At the time, land speed record
(LSR) cars were powered by aircraft engines, because their huge capacity allowed them to deliver the necessary power. In 1935, Malcolm Campbell’s Bluebird, for example, had pushed the record to over 300mph using a Rolls Royce V12. Stuck realised that to have a serious crack at the record, he would also need an aero engine.
Much as in the UK, aero
engine projects were funded and controlled by the government, for military purposes. Nobody could
stroll along to a manufacturer and just buy one. Fortunately, Stuck was well connected and able to call on his old chum, Ernst Udet, the Third Reich’s director of aircraft procurement.
TOP SECRET Negotiations yielded access to the still top secret Daimler Benz DB600 series V12s, already putting out 1000bhp each, and with plenty of development potential. This gave power to Stuck’s elbow, but he then needed a designer. The obvious choice was Ferdinand Porsche, the man responsible for the Auto Unions the driver was racing. Porsche was very enthusiastic
and even offered to do the job for free if necessary – a
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