Mercedes Silver Arrows: the history and the models, 1934–1939
Few chapters of motorsport history are as densely packed with legend as the six seasons of the Mercedes Silver Arrows before the war. Between 1934 and 1939, Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union turned the European Grand Prix circuits into a laboratory of speed that would not be matched for decades. For collectors, this era is a gift: no manufacturer has documented it in 1:18 as faithfully as CMC.
1934: a legend is born
The new 750-kilogram formula of 1934 was meant to slow the cars down — it did the opposite. As the story goes, the white-painted Mercedes W25 was found to be just over the weight limit at the Nürburgring, so the team ground the paint off overnight and raced in bare, gleaming aluminium: the first «Silver Arrow». Whether it happened exactly like that or grew in the telling, the silver cars and their name became immortal. At its very debut at the 1934 Eifelrennen, Manfred von Brauchitsch drove the W25 to victory — the opening act of six years of dominance. CMC's W25 — the original Silver Arrow captures that first hero of 1934.
1937: the W125 — the summit of raw power
The W125 of 1937 remains one of the most awe-inspiring racing cars ever built: a 5.6-litre supercharged straight-eight producing around 600 hp, a figure Grand Prix racing would not see again for decades. Rudolf Caracciola drove it to the 1937 European Championship. CMC's W125 in Caracciola's German GP livery reproduces it down to the throttle linkage — one of the finest pieces in the entire CMC range.
1938–1939: mastering every formula
When the rules changed to 3 litres in 1938, Mercedes answered with the V12-powered W154, which won three of the four great Grandes Épreuves that season — and Caracciola took yet another European title. The most astonishing feat came last: for the 1939 Tripoli Grand Prix, run to Italian 1.5-litre voiturette rules seemingly tailor-made for Alfa Romeo, Mercedes designed and built the compact W165 in a matter of months — and finished one-two, Hermann Lang ahead of Caracciola. Both cars stand in our cabinet as CMC models: the W154 and the W165, «the great victor of Tripoli».
The eternal rival: Auto Union
The Silver Arrow story is unthinkable without its counterpart from Zwickau. The mid-engined Auto Union monsters — tamed most famously by Tazio Nuvolari in the Type D of 1938 — pushed Mercedes to ever greater heights. A Silver Arrow shelf is only complete with its silver rival beside it.
Tips for Silver Arrow collectors
How do you build a Silver Arrow collection? The most satisfying route is chronological: start with the W25 and put the technical evolution on the shelf year by year, from the first 750-kg racer to the Tripoli miracle W165. If you would rather begin with a single highlight, take the W125 — no other model tells the story of this era as vividly. Watch for retired references: CMC never reissues them, and the early Silver Arrow models in particular are becoming steadily scarcer on the collector market. And give the cars a little space between them in the cabinet — the silhouettes of W25, W125 and W154 side by side show the development better than any book.
Collecting the era
From the W25 to the W165, and on to the post-war W196 with which Fangio resumed the legend in 1954, CMC has built the entire arc in hand-assembled 1:18. Many of these models have left production and are appreciating steadily. Start today and you still benefit from many references changing hands at fair prices. Every Silver Arrow at AMS is stocked in Switzerland, personally graded, and ships insured — no customs, no surprises. Explore them in our CMC collection.