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Mercedes-Benz W25K - A shot, please

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Created on November 25, 2022

Text:

Karl Ludvigsen (Übersetzung: Paul Krüger)

Photos:

Ludvigsen Partners

36

Ludvigsen Partners

36

Manfred von Brauchitsch during training for the Eifel race at the Nürburgring on June 14, 1936

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From this M25B, the Mercedes-Benz engineers developed the ME25 for the 1936 season, which drew between 450 and 480 hp from 4.7 liters.

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The discarded V12 of the DAB type in a W25 chassis. The twelve-cylinder engine was too heavy for Grand Prix racing and was therefore mainly used in record-breaking races.

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Chassis designer Max Wagner also led the development of the new four-speed gearbox with transverse countershafts. It still worked with old-fashioned, straight-toothed sliding gears.

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The De Dion rear axle with rear-hinged Y-axle tube and transverse quarter-elliptic springs was also a Max Wagner development.

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Gearbox and axle in the W25K chassis. The holes in the frame made it lighter, but not exactly more torsionally rigid.

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Thanks to the new chassis, body engineer Josef Müller was able to design a low and smooth-surfaced shell for the W25K, which enclosed both axles for low air resistance.

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Wisely, the body department also developed a fully clad version of the W25K. However, Caracciola's later record-breaking car looked different.

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The streamlined axles are clearly visible from this perspective. Josef Müller's idea gave racing cars a completely new, unusual appearance.

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For the sake of air resistance, the W25K initially only had three rather small cooling air inlets. The intake manifold for combustion air can be seen in the center above the hole for the starter crank. The tires are still comparatively narrow.

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With its rounded nose, multiple slit hood and long tapered rear, the W25K looked very modern.

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The low-mounted exhaust, which for the first time was fitted under the rear axle, is clearly visible here. Likewise the cramped conditions in the cockpit.

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Although the W25K's career was short-lived, the designers experimented with different combinations of air intakes, as shown here by Louis Sugahara.

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Louis Chiron keeps a watchful eye on the mechanics in his first outing for Mercedes-Benz in Monaco. He qualified in first place on the grid, but retired on the second lap after braking at the entrance to the harbor chicane.

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Monegasque Louis Chiron leads Rudolf Caracciola around the completely soaked track in his home town during practice for the Monaco Grand Prix.

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Start of the Monaco Grand Prix on April 13, 1936, with Tazio Nuvolari standing between Louis Chiron (No. 10) and Rudolf Caracciola (No. 8) in the Alfa Romeo 8C with starting number 24.

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Chased by Achille Varzi and Hans Stuck in their Auto-Union, Caracciola was able to maintain his first place right to the finish - with an average speed of just 83.2 km/h, the lowest since 1930. In comparison: Chiron had qualified for first place on the grid with 101.13 km/h.

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The Mercedes-Benz propaganda department wasted no time in proclaiming the "German victory". Later, however, the W25K only rarely gave rise to such posters.

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Two Mercedes-Benz W25Ks competed in the Tunisian Grand Prix over 30 laps of 12.7 kilometers each. Rudolf Caracciola won the race ahead of Carlo Maria Pintacuda and Jean-Pierre Wimille with an average speed of 159.3 km/h.

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For the race on May 17, 1936, the track in Carthage was equipped with three chicanes, one of which Louis Chiron is driving through here. Although he was well in the race, he had to retire with fuel supply problems.

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Here, Rudolf Caracciola's car is being unloaded from the transporter in the run-up to the Penya-Rhin Grand Prix on June 7, 1936. He finished the race in second place, 3.4 seconds behind Tazio Nuvolari in the Alfa Romeo.

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For the Eifel race on June 14, 1936, the Mercedes-Benz racing department and its "special workshop" took up residence at Forsthaus Sankt Hubertus. At the front left is Chiron's car with starting number 17.

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Two Mercedes-Benz W25Ks took part in the 10-lap Eifel Race at the Nürburgring. One of them was driven by Hermann Lang, who can be seen here in the paddock.

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Although only two cars took part in the Eifel race, all four W25Ks were in the pit lane during practice. Lang and Chiron crossed the finish line, albeit more than five minutes behind in 5th and 6th place.

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Mercedes-Benz entered three W25K cars in the Hungarian Grand Prix on June 21, 1936. Here Manfred von Brauchitsch is being nudged by Tazio Nuvolari, which ends in a spin and a bent track rod.

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Although he had fought back well after his no-fault spin, von Brauchitsch ultimately had to retire in Hungary with a broken tie rod. The other two W25Ks retired with engine problems - truly a bad day for the Stuttgart team.

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Traditionally housed in the Forsthaus St. Hubertus, the racing department prepared five W25Ks for the German Grand Prix on July 26, 1936.

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Final preparations before the German Grand Prix on the cars of Caracciola (12), Chiron (18) and von Brauchitsch (14). The race lasted 22 laps or 502 kilometers.

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Manfred von Brauchitsch (in white overall) and race director Alfred Neubauer (far right) watch as the mechanics adjust the set-up of Brauchitsch's race car during practice for the German Grand Prix.

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As the season progressed, the rear tires of the W25K became increasingly powerful. Here you can see Hermann Lang at the 1936 German Grand Prix. Although he was in second place, he later had to hand his car over to Rudolf Caracciola, whose car had broken down.

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track and had to give up. The front axle construction, now three years old, was no longer up to the Nürburgring.

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This photo of Louis Chiron at the German Grand Prix shows very clearly the enlarged left-hand cooling air opening behind which the oil cooler was located.

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After a thorough overhaul by Rudolf Uhlenhaut's racing department, four W25Ks competed in the Swiss Grand Prix in Bremgarten on August 23. Caracciola started from first position, but retired after 29 of 70 laps.

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Hermann Lang showed his great talent at the Swiss Grand Prix before a sore little finger, which he had broken at the Nürburgring, forced him to retire. Luigi Faglioli took over and drove Lang's W25K to fourth place.

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Two W25Ks were also used during test drives of the new W125 in Monza on April 1, 1937. Briton Richard Seaman (pictured here), a new addition to the team, was happy to take part in the full throttle tests - and crashed shortly afterwards.

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images seen in high resolution

Mercedes-Benz W25 (1935) – Der Reihenachtzylinder des Typs M25B

Mercedes-Benz W25K (1936) – mit dem verworfenen V12 des Typs DAB

Mercedes-Benz W25K (1936) – Schnittzeichnung des Getriebes mit querliegenden Wellen

Mercedes-Benz W25K (1936) – Die von Max Wagner patentierte De-Dion-Hinterachse

Mercedes-Benz W25K (1936) – Getriebe und Hinterachse im neuen Rahmen

Mercedes-Benz W25K (1936) – Ansichtszeichnungen der Karosserie

Summary

With the further development of the successful Mercedes-Benz W25, Stuttgart took a wrong turn. The more powerful new engine was above all heavier; the alternative was light but unreliable. The shorter wheelbase did not make the racer with the in-line eight-cylinder more manageable, but only more nervous. This article tells the story of the development of the beautiful 1936 Silver Arrow, which started out strong and then faded sharply, only to disappear again after just two victories and not even a full season.

This article contains the following chapters

V12 heavyweight
Further development of the eight-cylinder engine
The gearbox - a ladder
The Y-axis
Axle guide, springs and brakes
Streamline with free-standing wheels
Strong start, strong finish
Problems with reliability
Focus on the next season

Estimated reading time: 15min

Preview (beginning of the article)

The 1935 Grand Prix season was the best that Mercedes-Benz had experienced since the introduction of the new 750-kilogram formula. In its second season, the W25 fully proved its worth and was fielded in a team that finally acted as a team against the strong competition and had two absolute experts at the wheel in Rudolf Caracciola and Luigi Fagioli. Alfa Romeo and Maserati - who were taken by surprise in 1934 by the Germans, who were quicker to recognize the possibilities of the new regulations - brought new and faster cars to the starting grid in 1935, which were to become even stronger competitors in 1936. And the successful Bernd Rosemeyer demonstrated unusual skill at the wheel of his Auto Union. For the third year of the formula, major changes to the Mercedes-Benz equipment were obviously necessary.

Welcome to Zwischengas!

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Images of this article

Mercedes-Benz W25 (1935) – Der Reihenachtzylinder des Typs M25B

Mercedes-Benz W25K (1936) – mit dem verworfenen V12 des Typs DAB

Mercedes-Benz W25K (1936) – Schnittzeichnung des Getriebes mit querliegenden Wellen

Mercedes-Benz W25K (1936) – Die von Max Wagner patentierte De-Dion-Hinterachse

Mercedes-Benz W25K (1936) – Getriebe und Hinterachse im neuen Rahmen

Mercedes-Benz W25K (1936) – Ansichtszeichnungen der Karosserie

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