Von Brauchitsch with a litre Mercedes Benz at the Donington Grand Prix He was one of the most successful drivers of the Silver Arrows in the prewar era He entered his first race a hillclimb in driving a Mercedes and came first in his class In he competed in the Eifel Grand Prix and finished third to his future teammate Rudolf Caracciola and H J von Morgan In he won the Avus Grand Prix He was invited to join the Mercedes team and became a works driver for them between The Silver Arrow race cars set several speed records and obtained their name from their silver bodywork They were originally white but had the paint removed in order to lower their weight