Much of the Daimler-Benz success seems to be traced back to the design engineers, in the case of Benz there would be August Horch as temporary head of motor vehicle production and, alongside Benz himself, Hans Nibel. At Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach will always be mentioned first, followed by Paul Daimler and Ferdinand Porsche, who left the field of work to Nibel in 1928.

Many, perhaps still unfinished, designs migrated to the successor, e.g. the in-line six-cylinder from Maybach to Daimler, the supercharger technology from Daimler to Porsche and the refinement of the 8/38 hp 200, the in-line eight-cylinder with compressor and the famous S, SS, SSK and SSKL to Hans Nibel.

They are called the Roaring Twenties, but German manufacturers were by no means bedded in roses. First the lost war, a time in which the progress of the USA increased again, then the post-war period, full of deprivation, followed by devastating inflation and finally a tariff reduction that invites the competition to Germany.

At Daimler-Benz there were also the difficulties of merging Daimler and Benz, as can be seen from the example of Nibel/Porsche. With a general trend toward a reduction in displacement, the tax horsepower came under pressure. As can already be seen above, starting in 1928 a three-digit cubic capacity indication was added.

Nibel's time as the sole responsible designer began practically with the takeover of the 'S' for sport. Here just so much that it was derived from the 'K' model, equipped with a larger, lower and further back six-cylinder, and took first two places (Caracciola and Rosenberger) in the very first race at the Nürburgring.

The compressor was added to the further increase in displacement and with it another number of horsepower in the type designation. Because this was only activated when the accelerator pedal was depressed and then taught potential opponents the fear through its screeching. 'K' for kurz (short) is almost self-explanatory, and for 'L' for light, all you need to do is look at the openings in the longitudinal beams visible from the side.

Mercedes and taking part in races, a neverending story. As already described in the first part, it started around the turn of the century in the south of France, and accelerated the development of the brand and thus also the sales success enormously. In 1914 there was another successful, but because of the war short new start with the triple victory at the French GP.

In 1924, the Targa Florio was won with one of the first compressor cars. It was like testing every new technological step in the racing field and getting pretty direct success. In 1934 the career began that is most impressively connected with the Mercedes brand.

Because the term 'Silver Arrow' was actually formed here when the aluminum body was sanded down because of one kilogram too much and the previously white racing color became one that was similar to aluminum. Of course, behind the successes that followed was the National Socialist government as a huge sponsor.

But what was made of it at Daimler-Benz was enormous. It started with a 3.4 liter displacement distributed over eight cylinders in line. Thanks to the compressor and special fuel for significantly increased compression, the result was 260 kW (354 hp) and a top speed of 280 km/h. After a restart in 1937, it was 5.7 liters with eight cylinders and 435 kW (592 hp) or 320 km/h.

In 1938, the regulation of the maximum weight was replaced by a displacement limitation of three liters. Result at Daimler Benz: 12 cylinders in V-shape and still 333 kW (453 hp). And that continues to grow outside of the GP races and culminates in Rudolf Caracciola's world record of 432.7 km / h in January 1938, which lasted for 79 years.

And if Bernd Rosemeyer hadn't had a fatal accident on his subsequent record drive, they would would have had an even more insane vehicle, the T80 with a 2,206 kW (3,000 PS) aircraft engine that supposedly would have been 600 km/h fast. It goes without saying that after a difficult start, one dominated almost all normal races, you only had to let Auto Union go first in 1936.