On This Day: Public road speed record of 268.9mph set by Rudolf Caracciola on German Autobahn

JAN 29, 1938: Formula 1 driver Rudolf Caracciola recorded the fastest ever speed on a public road after reaching 268.9mph on the newly built German Autobahn on this day in 1938.

The Grand Prix ace also set the then world land speed record in a Mercedes-Benz W125 Rekordwagen during a time trial race between the car giant and rival Audi.

His top speed over a mile was just 0.4mph faster than that of his German compatriot Bernd Rosemeyer, who died after careering off the road during his second run.

Caracciola, whose noble ancestors had come to Germany from Italy during the 17th century, was profoundly shaken by the death of his greatest rival.

Years later he wrote: 'What was the sense in men chasing each other to death for the sake of a few seconds? To serve progress? To serve mankind?

'What a ridiculous phrase in the face of the great reality of death. But then—why? Why?

'And for the first time, at that moment, I felt that every life is lived according to its own laws.

'And that the law for a fighter is: to burn oneself up to the last fibre, no matter what happens to the ashes.'

More than anything else, it explains why he was able to go out and try and beat Rosemeyer’s time only 90 minutes after his fiery death in his V-16 Auto Union.

His W125 Rekordwagen was a more streamlined version of his 1937 F1 championship-winning W125 - with a 5.6-litre V12 instead of a V8.

The time trial was organised by the Nazi Party, which hoped to show off its Germany’s pre-eminent engineering of both cars and roads.

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After taking power in 1933, Adolf Hitler enthusiastically embraced motorways after seeing fellow fascist dictator Benito Mussolini build the 'autostrada' system in Italy.

The Nazi project became known as the 'autobahn', which means 'car track' in German, and it rapidly became the biggest network in the world.

Today, with a total length of 7,982 miles, it is the third longest motorway system after the U.S. and China – and twice the size of Britain’s.

It also bears the distinction of having no federally-mandated speed limit, although a few stretches – such as those in urban areas - have locally-enforced restrictions.

It attracts speed fanatics from all over the world, although Caracciola benefited from having the road closed to traffic.

In 1939, just before World War II began, Caracciola again set a world land speed record – this time the fastest car with a 3-litre engine after reaching 127mph.

A British Pathé newsreel filmed the three-time F1 world champion and record six-time German Grand Prix winner in a Mercedes emblazoned with a swastika.

He and other German drivers were forced to become members of the National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK), although he was never a member of the Nazi Party.

He did, however, have close links with the fascist organisation.

Notably, at the 1938 sham Reichstag elections, he stood on a Nazi platform and praised Hitler.

He said the 'unique successes of these new racing cars in the past four years are a victorious symbol of our Führer's achievement in rebuilding the nation.'

He also was ordered by his bosses to personally deliver a customised Mercedes-Benz 770 to Hitler in 1931 after the firm had been late fulfilling the order.

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The Nazi leader and his niece Geli Raubal, who was driven to suicide later that year by her uncle’s obsession with her, were then driven around Munich by Caracciola.

Yet after the war he wrote: 'I could not imagine that this man would have the requirements for taking over the government someday.'

Caracciola eventually moved to Switzerland and persuaded Mercedes to pay his salary in Swiss Francs, despite severe restrictions on foreign currencies in Germany.

The firm stopped paying him in 1942 after he refused to entertain German troops as he 'could not find it in myself to cheer up young men so that they would believe in a victory I myself could not believe in'.

In 1952 he was rehired by the Mercedes-Benz racing team.

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But his second racing career with them was short lived after fracturing his leg in a support race at that year’s Swiss Grand Prix.

He later became a car salesman and died aged 55 of liver failure in 1959 in Kassel, Germany.