JF Ptak Science Books Quick Post (A Post in the series of Blank, Empty and Missing Things.)
I was grazing a large bound volume of the Illustrirte Zeitung (Leipzig) and came across this photo in the issue for 10 February 1938–it was sandwiched between two stories on Austria’s attraction to National Socialism. The German invasion of Austria would begin on 12 March, just a month away, and end a day later. Czechoslovakia would follow soon thereafter.
But what we see here is a photograph of the 12-cylinder Mercedes W125 which was driven by Rudolf Caracciola in 1937 to a world speed record of 268.9 mph over a mile-long stretch of highway from a flying start. Most of the images you see of this automobile all through the internet are like those in the Mercedes-Benz Museum (which may or may not by law be able to show photographs of the racer with the symbol), and are all pretty much the same–they almost all are missing one detail, one symbol that the car carried on its record-breaking run:
Oh, here’s another:
