Mercedes-Benz W25

The Mercedes-Benz W25 was a Grand Prix racing car that Daimler-Benz designed for the 1934 season, when new rules limited cars to a maximum weight of 750 kg. Its supercharged straight-eight M25 engine soon produced more power than the 300 horsepower maximum of its seven litre predecessor, the SSK. In 1934 it won four major races, and in 1935 Rudolf Caracciola won the revived European Championship in it, with Luigi Fagioli contributing three of the car's nine Grand Prix wins that year. A shortened, lightened W25K was often beaten in 1936, when Mercedes skipped the rest of the season to develop a new car. The W25 stayed in use until 1937, when the W125 succeeded it.