The Silver Arrows

Part V– 1937, Last Year of 750 kg Formula

The last year of the 750 kg formula was 1937. Mercedes had a new Grand Prix car, the W125 with a 5.7 liter 575 hp engine. It was the most powerful Grand Prix car yet conceived. The hotheaded Fagioli left the Mercedes team and joined up with Auto Union. Mercedes senior drivers were now Caracciola, von Brauchitsch and Lang. The junior drivers were Richard Seaman and Christian Kautz. At Auto Union the Type C car with a few modifications continued in use during 1937. Varzi was no longer on the team due to his drug problems but he did attempt a come back during the season. Rosemeyer, Stuck and Fagioli were the senior drivers and supporting them were drivers Ernst von Delius, Rudolf Hasse and Herman Müller. Tazio Nuvolari drove one race for Auto Union during the season.

The first race of 1937 was at Tripoli and nine Silver Arrows were on the starting grid, four from Mercedes and five from Auto Union. Because of the heat and speed, tire wear was expected to be a problem and each team tried a different strategy. Mercedes’ drivers raced conservatively hoping for only one (or possibly no) tire change. The Auto Union team drove very aggressively and pitted as necessary for new tires. As a result 35 tire changes were made by the Auto Union pit crew, Hans Stuck having seven alone. This provided a great experience for the spectators who watched the top nine positions change on every lap. Based on the finishing positions, it is difficult to determine which strategy worked best. The Mercedes of Lang won the race but just nine and a half seconds behind him was the Auto Union of Rosemeyer. Of the nine Silver Arrows that started, only one was a DNF. The other eight cars occupied the top eight finishing positions.

The next race at the Berlin AVUS track finished with Mercedes in first followed by two Auto Union cars. Then Auto Union sent one car to Rio de Janeiro because they expected an easy field of competitiors. Although Stuck started off in the lead the Brazilian course had lots of curves and the power advantage of the Auto Union car was not helpful. Scuderia Ferrari had brought two Alfa Tipos to the race, an 8C-35 driven by Pintacuda and a 12C-36 driven by Brivio. Pintacudo not only kept up with Stuck but also was able to pass him when he pitted. At the end, Pintacudo took first, Stuck was eight seconds behind and Brivio finished in third. One week later at the Eifelrennen, Scuderia Ferrari had to deal with a fleet of five Auto Union and five Mercedes Silver Arrows. Despite pre-race problems on both of the German teams, it was really a foregone conclusion if a Silver Arrow would win. The only question was which builder and which driver. It was Rosemeyer who took a third consecutive Nürburg Ring win. Rudy Caracciola was less than two seconds behind Bernd followed by von Brauchitsch.

The new event for the Silver Arrows in 1937 was the II George Vanderbilt Cup at Roosevelt Raceway in New York. The race date was a conflict with the Belgium Grand Prix so drivers were split between the two events. For Auto Union Rosemeyer and von Delius went to the US; for Mercedes it was Caracciola and Seaman. Scuderia Ferrari also brought two cars which were driven by Tazio Nuvalari and Giuseppe Farina (son of the brothers that started Pininfarina.) Other competition in the race included eleven Miller’s, five privateer Alfas, five Maseratis, a Buggatti, a Boyle, a Miller-Offy, a Debaets, an Offenhauser, a Schumacher, a Fowler, a Jumire, a Dusenberg and a pair of Amblers – thirty starters in all. American cars were generally two-seat Indy racers versus single-seat European Grand Prix cars. Interestingly, the experience American Wilbur Shaw would gain with the Grand Prix cars would lead him to fielding a winning Maserati at the Indianapolis 500 in 1939 and 1940. Another interesting anecdote is that the race was originally scheduled for Saturday July 3 but postponed because of rain. This confused the European drivers who were use to racing in all weather conditions.

The Silver Arrow cars dominated the race from the beginning. If it were not for a supercharger failure, the four German racers would have occupied the top four spots. As it was Caracciola was DNF but he was not necessarily unhappy. His trip to America also doubled as a honeymoon trip for him and his new wife, Alice “Baby” Hoffmann. The American crowd was certainly awed by the speed of the Silver Arrow racers but they may have been even more impressed by Californian Rex Mays and his Alfa 8C-35. This Alfa was a spare that Scuderia Ferrari have brought with them for practice but sold to American Bill White. Mays and White heavily modified the car and it proved faster then the twelve-cylinder factory team Alfas. Qualifying times put Mays on the front row along with Rosemeyer and Caracciola. Mays was first off the line but within ten feet he was being passed by the Germans. Nevertheless, Mays kept up with the front of the pack for the entire race. At the checkered flag 70,000 fans watched Rosemeyer finish first, Seaman second, Mays third and von Delius fourth.

There were eight more races in the season and a Silver Arrow driver would occupy first, second and third place at each one of these races. Mercedes completed the 1937 season winning 54% of the races and Auto Union won 38% - a combined 92% success rate for the Silver Arrows. And Rudy Caracciola was the European champion.

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