The Mercedes Blitzen-Benz Was The World’s Fastest Car For A Full Decade

Aside from the speed record runs, it was also the first time in the world that an internal combustion engine would break the 200 km/h speed barrier. Despite its impressive records, the race car had to go elsewhere to achieve even higher speeds, so it was shipped to the US.

In America, the Benz 200 PS would go even faster, as on March 16, 1910, it hit a new record speed of 211.97 km/h (131 mph) on the Daytona Beach track. Soon after, on April 23, 1911, the German race car hit another speed record on the same track, achieving 228.1 km/h (141 mph ) with Bob Burman at the helm.

That made it twice as fast as a contemporary airplane and faster than any car or rail vehicle too, giving it the unofficial absolute speed record. The record would stand for another eight years, only being eclipsed in 1919. The details around speed records of this era are muddy due to inaccurate reports and headlines and the fact that the Mercedes record was set in only one direction.

Regardless, the Blitzen-Benz set a standard for speed, and many more Merc records would follow, the latest of which involves the AMG ONE and the Nurburgring.