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His battles with Bernd Rosemeyer and Auto Union ended in the World Land Speed Record for Caracciola and the tragic death of Rosemeyer. During World War II he lived in exile at his home in Lugano, Switzerland. After the war, his love of racing unabated, he continued to race through worsening health brought on by bone disease. After he retired Caracciola worked as a Mercedes-Benz salesman targeting allied troops stationed in Europe. He died at the age of 58 in 1959. According to the legendary Mercedes team manager Alfred Neubauer, with who he had a long and close relationship, " ... of all the great drivers I have known - Nuvolari, Rosemeyer, Lang, Moss or Fangio - Caracciola was the greatest of them all." |
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he won his first race at the age of 22. After a run-in with an officer of the Belgian occupying forces, Caracciola thought it best if he left Aachen and became a Fafnir representative in Dresden. In 1923 He worked as a salesman at newly formed
Daimler-Benz and was allowed to race on weekends if the race was within driving distance
of the Dresden agency. After convincing the general manager at
Daimler to lend him a factory racecar he was required to enter the Grand Prix of Germany
at Avus under his own name. This 25-year-old weekend racer started the most important race
of his young career and promptly stalled his car. His mechanic Otto Salzar was forced to
jump out and push start the lonely Mercedes. At last the car sputtered to life. Starting
from dead last in a 44-car field was not what the young Caracciola had in mind. Shortly it
began to rain and cars were flying off the track. One crashed into a timekeeper's stand
and killed the course worker. 
The 500,000 spectators that were in attendence that day were to get the shock of their
afternoon when it was announced that a new driver, one completely unknown to them had gone
into the lead. But this lead was short lived as the Mercedes began to suffer from serious
misfire. Caracciola pulled into the pits and in those days the driver had to do any
repairs required on the car so Caracciola pulled each of the eight spark plugs out one by
one. It was not until the last plug did he discover the culprit. By then it seamed that
all was lost and he was urged to quit. Caracciola would hear none of this and chose to
continue spurred on by a sense of duty to the factory. By the 13th lap the rain had
stopped but Caracciola had no sense of his position but still he soldiered on. After
driving flat-out for nearly three hours and 243 miles he crossed the finished line totally
exhausted. Only then did he learn that he had won the first Grand Prix of Germany. Caracciola used the prize money to good use setting up a Mercedes-Benz dealership on the prestigious Kurfürstendamm in Berlin. He also married his girlfriend, Charlotte, whom he had met in 1923 while working at the Mercedes-Benz outlet in Dresden.
Caracciola would gain fame throughout Germany
racing the legendary white SSK for Mercedes. He was
renowned for his wet weather prowess. In 1929 he scored one of his greatest victories at
the 
The year 1935 had been a
special year as he returned to racing after suffering serious injuries to his body and his
heart. His beloved wife, Charly, had died in an avalanche. Still hobbled by injuries his
come back victory at the 