When Daimler-Benz returned to Grand Prix racing in 1954 with their new W 196 Formula One car, Karl Kling was once again in on the act – first lining up alongside teammates Juan Manuel Fangio, Hermann Lang and Hans Herrmann, and later with such top drivers as the Englishman Stirling Moss and Piero Taruffi.

On the unveiling of the new Silver Arrows at the French Grand Prix in Reims in 1954, Karl Kling finished runner-up to Fangio. He subsequently achieved a number of high-placed finishes on just about every major Grand Prix circuit – his victories in the 1954 Berlin Grand Prix held on the famous AVUS racetrack and in the 1955 Swedish Grand Prix being particularly worthy of note.

When Daimler-Benz withdrew from motor racing at the end of the 1955 season, Karl Kling took over from his mentor Alfred Neubauer as head of the motor sports department.  Yet, he also continued to take an active part in racing – notably in long-distance races. 

In 1959 he won the Méditerranée – Le Cap Rally in a Mercedes-Benz 190 Diesel and drove a Mercedes-Benz 220 SE to victory in the Algiers – Cape Town Rally in 1961.

Since the death of his wife, Karl Kling led a quiet life in his house on Lake Constance, where he continued to follow with great critical interest the fortunes of Daimler’s sporting involvement.

Karl Kling passed away in 2003, and with his death, the closing chapter of one of the greatest racing drivers completed.  However, his accomplishments live on, as shown by Mercedes-Benz’s triumphant return into the motor sport arena.  Kling’s triumphant and colorful career wasn’t fueled by paychecks or endorsements, but rather, by pure unadulterated passion.  And it all began in a little Daimler-Benz agency in the town of Gießen.

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