Mercedes raced at the first Grand Prix in 1906 and are present throughout
early Grand Prix history. In the 1930’s they were subsidised by
a grant from Hitler and dominated the racing world in all classes from
the Grand Prix and Hill Climbs to the Mille Miglia. The Nazi Party was
then able to use this as pro-German propaganda, an open demonstration
of German superiority in the field of engineering.
In 1934 Mercedes were taking part in the Eifelrennen at the Nurbergring
when it was discovered that their cars were 1kg over the 750kg weight
limit. Following a suggestion from Manfred Von Brauchitsch, a Mercedes
driver, all the white paint was taken off the cars leaving bare polished
aluminium and it is from this that Mercedes gained their name; the Silver
Arrows.
On July 23 1939, three-time European Champion Rudolf Caracciola drove
his Mercedes W163 ‘Silver Arrow’ to win the German Grand Prix
at the Nurbergring for the sixth time in his career. During a rain soaked
race Caracciola, the best wet driver of his era, came from down the field
to gain first position, where he stayed to win what would be the last
German Grand Prix before the outbreak of World War II.
This exciting release from one of the world’s most collected motorsport
artists, captures the thrill of speed as Caracciola leads Brendel, flying
down one of the long straights of the Nurbergring. As usual the detail
of the subject, in this instance Caracciola’s number 12 Mercedes
W163 ‘Silver Arrow’, is perfect, proving yet again that Coulson
is one of the finest artists in this field.
Each print is signed by Gerald Coulson
Edition size:
350 Signed and Numbered - £75 inc vat (£63.83+vat)
35 Artists Proofs - £125 inc vat (£106.38+vat)
Orders from outside the European Union are free of VAT.
Rudolf Carraciola
The son of Italian immigrants Carraciola was born in Remagen, Germany
in 1901. He started his racing career by taking part in weekend races
whist working as a salesman for Daimler-Benz and his first win came at
the age of 22. In the German Grand Prix at Avus in 1926 he started from
last in a 44 car race after stalling at the start. However, shortly into
the race it began to rain and he really came into his own as other cars
began to fly off the track. Pushing hard he took the lead and he won the
German Grand Prix as a 25 year old, completely unknown weekend driver.
He went on to win the European Drivers Championship three times and had
many other notable victories to his name such as 1929 Tourist Trophy and
the 1931 Mille Miglia. He gained fame throughout Germany racing the legendary
white SSK for Mercedes. He battled with Bernd Rosemeyer of Auto Union
for the Land Speed Record that eventually became his but led to the tragic
death of Rosemayer during one attempt.
Carraciola raced for Mercedes for all but two years of his career and
after WWII he continued to race despite being in bad health due to bone
disease. He died in 1959 at the age of 58.
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