Here is the last part of the ‘colourful story’. It’s about the colour white, or ‘German Silver’ as it is also known. The colour of German racing cars was supposed to be white at the beginning of automobile racing, but then it suddenly became silver. The legend of the scraping and sanding down of the white colour in the run-up to the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring is a nice story, but probably not entirely true. However white became silver is rather unimportant.
Nevertheless, the appearance of the pre-war racing cars from Mercedes Benz and Auto Union is legendary. Usually with a red starting number on a white background, these racing cars had a raw, unfinished look. Of course, the record-breaking cars from the two German manufacturers are also legendary, regularly chasing speed records and driving them to ever new heights. Of course, the ‘missing’ colour made sense, as every gram of weight counted in this record hunt.
The famous drivers of the time included Manfred von Brauchitsch, Hans Stuck, Rudolf Carraciola and, above all, the charismatic Bernd Rosemeyer, a truly glamorous racing driver and, in this day and age, certainly a social media star.
Many Porsche racing cars later also competed in the pure look of silver. Decades later, when Mercedes became involved again in the best and most prestigious motorsport series such as the World Endurance Championship and Formula 1, first as an engine supplier and later with its own works team, this wonderful and at the same time reduced look of silver celebrated a glittering and extremely successful comeback.
It was first the Sauber Group C racing cars and then later the McLaren Formula 1 racers that represented the German colours on the racetracks of the world. Later, of course, it was the Audi LMP1 racing cars that drove everything into the ground at Le Mans and rushed from victory to victory.
Silver, as a colour, is a neutral, shiny metallic shade that lies between black and white and is associated with a light grey. The colour silver radiates calm, elegance and modernity and is often associated with festive occasions and glamour. The colour silver stands for lightness, freedom, speed and clarity. However, it also sometimes has a cool and reserved effect.
I still find silver-coloured racing cars extremely beautiful, they are very photogenic because the silver perfectly sets off the outer shape of the car and creates this pure, sometimes even unfinished look.
While all the other ‘national colours’ of the racing cars, such as British Racing Green, French Blue or Rosso Italiano, have always used different shades, silver is simply always silver. And that is what made it so special.
A colorful story
Part one : French Blue
Part two : British Racing Green
Part three : Rosso Italiano
Part four : German Silver
