It was the World War One German air aces’ desire to desire to fly faster and higher than their opponents that led Mercedes to develop supercharging for internal combustion engines, a technology that they translated into terrestrial terms by pioneering the production of supercharged motor cars in the 1920s.

However, the legend of the big supercharged Mercedes really got under way when the newly-merged Mercedes-Benz company’s chief engineer Ferdinand Porsche created the S-type 26/120/180-hp in 1927.

While its 6.8-litre engine was basically that of the K-type that it succeeded, the low-slung vee-radiatored S-type represented a clean break with the upright styling of its predecessor.

Capable of speeds in excess of 100 mph, the S-type recorded many victories in road racing.

At the opening meeting at the new Nürburgring on 19 June 1927 – the first public appearance of the new model – Rudi Caracciola and his co-driver Rosenberger won the class for sports cars of more than 5 litres, with C...