The Record
Rudolf Caracciola's record of 432.7 km/h (268 mph) over the flying kilometre on 28 January 1938, still remains the fastest ever officially timed speed on a public road as of 2010. It also was the fastest speed ever recorded in Germany until Rico Anthes bettered it with a Top Fuel Dragster on the Hockenheimring drag strip.
This record breaking run was made on the Reichs-Autobahn A5 between Frankfurt and Darmstadt, where onlookers were rattled by the brutal boom of the side spewing exhaust stacks as the silver car hurtled past. By nine that morning, Caracciola and team chief Alfred Neubauer were having a celebration breakfast at the Park Hotel in Frankfurt.
Sadly, popular driver Bernd Rosemeyer was killed later the same day when trying to beat that record for Auto Union. This also put an end to the record attempts of Mercedes, even though Hans Stuck later wanted to beat the overall land speed record with the Porsche-designed Mercedes-Benz T80 which was powered by a 3,000 horsepower (2,200 kW) airplane engine.
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Read more about this topic: Mercedes-Benz W125 Rekordwagen
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