Mercedes to Celebrate Silver Arrows at Goodwood

The start of the International Eifel race on the Nürburgring on June 3, 1934.

As the story goes, technicians from Mercedes-Benz stripped the white paint off its grand prix cars at the 1934 International Eifel race at the Nürburgring track in Germany to bring the cars below the maximum weight permitted by the new racing formula of the time, 750 kilograms, or 1,650 pounds.

True or not, the Silver Arrows were born. Manfred von Brauchitsch delivered a win in the debut of the W 25 race car at the Nürburgring. And until 1939, when World War II put a halt to racing in Europe, the Silver Arrows were dominant on the track, matched only (and only occasionally) by race cars from its arch competitor, Auto Union.

This weekend, Mercedes-Benz will mark the 75th anniversary of the Silver Arrows with a celebration at the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed in Britain. The W 25 that von Brauchitsch drove at the Nürburgring, imported from the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany, will be on display, along with its successor, the 1937 W 125 racer, as well as last year’s McLaren-Mercedes MP4-23 Formula One race car, which the British driver Lewis Hamilton raced to the drivers’ championship.

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is held every year over three days on the parkland of Goodwood Estate in southern England. The name — “Festival of Speed” — isn’t a liberal exercise in branding. If anything, it’s an understatement. Vintage cars, sports cars and exotics are put through their paces in various race courses, including a road circuit and a hill climb.

Audi, celebrating its centenary, will be the featured marquee this year, and vintage racing machines from its past (Auto Union 1934 Type A and a 1938 Type D) will be exhibited.

Jacky Ickx, a six-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Pink Floyd drummer-motoring enthusiast Nick Mason were expected to pilot Auto Union racing cars up the hill climb.

A number of new exotics are on the agenda for the annual Supercar Run on the hill climb, also. The luscious array, to number 50 autos, is to include the targa-top Bugatti Veyron Gran Sport, the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren SLR Stirling Moss signature edition, the Porsche Panamera S, Audi R8 V10, Morgan Aero SuperSports, Aston Martin V-12 Vantage and the Lotus Evora.

Concept cars and “green” cars will be on view, and Goodwood will host the British introduction of the Infiniti brand from Nissan, showcasing a right-hand-drive Infiniti G37 convertible.

Motorsports fans in the Britain are already on a high with Hamilton’s successes last year in Formula One and the terrific showings of British grand prix teams like Red Bull and Brawn GP in this year’s campaign. The Goodwood event is special because spectators are separated from the action by only a few yards.

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