Hi Malcolm - nearly.
28 January 1938 - Rudolf Carraciola runs on the Frankfurt Darmstadt Autobahn an
average of 432.692 km/h - 268.8623 mph with a fastest one way speed of 436.893
km/h - 271.4727 mph.
He used the Mercedes Benz W125R. Some hours later Bernd Rosemeyer was killed to
get his record back.
A year later Carraciola runs at Dessau Autobahn, which was special designed for
the T80, which was calculate to 435+ mph....on the Autobahn.
With the W154 record cigar he set another record in the 180 ci - 3 liter class
- from 399.560 km/h - 248.2751 mph.
During the same record attempt he also tried to use the W125R again, for a
record of 300 mph, but unfortunatly the engine runs never well and than the
close off of the Autobahn for the public traffic was over. Some days later the
WW II starts and the cars never runs again.
The W125R is today in the Mercedes Benz museum in Stuttgart Germany - rumors
said that the cigar is not far away from this place in a underground garage so
as the frame of the T80 - only the T80 body is hanging on the wall of the
museum. The 1936 W25 record car is also there. We can hope that all the cars
will be on dipslay when the new, much bigger, museum will be open.
A year
>
> Historical note - the fastest FIA speed record set on a highway (autobahn
> as Pork Pie let me know near Dessau) is about 271 mph average of two runs.
>
> Malcolm Pittwood, Derby, England
>
> ps see www.abb.com/e=motion for this sponsors details of the car, etc.
|