The 1922 Targa Florio road race in Sicily was a major triumph for Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG). The Italian private driver Count Giulio Masetti won in the overall standings at the wheel of a Mercedes Grand Prix racing car. In addition, the DMG works team entered a further six vehicles and brought home the title for production cars. It was also the first outing under race conditions for the supercharged engine conceived by Paul Daimler – a concept that would garner a string of victories for the company at all the major racing venues in the years to come.

The large contingent of vehicles entered by DMG reflected the importance of the Targa Florio as a highly demanding road race of international prestige. DMG sent a variety of cars to the race – tried-and-tested vehicles as well as new ones – the aim being to win the Targa Florio at any price. It is something of an irony of history, therefore, that the coveted trophy for the overall standings was won not by the company itself but by a privateer at the wheel of his own Mercedes.

The vehicle piloted by the winner Count Masetti was basically identical to the Grand Prix racing car with which DMG works driver Christian Lautenschlager had won the pre-war French Grand Prix on July 4, 1914 in Lyon. The engine was a groundbreaking new design, which developed 105 hp (77 kW) at 3,100 r/min from a 4.5-liter displacement and had a maximum output of 106 hp. The design featured an overhead camshaft as well as two intake and two exhaust valves for improved respiration – the first Mercedes engine to feature four-valve technology. The crankshaft was supported by five bearings and made from special-strength steel for reliable continuous operation. The engine was set up for an engine speed of 3,500 r/min – a sensation figure for the day, considering that other engines usually went about their duties at around 2,200 r/min. The racing car’s chassis also offered several innovations, including a propshaft in the place of a chain drive. The vehicle weighed approximately 1,080 kilograms and reached a top speed of 180 km/h.

The Italian fans did not exactly make life easy for foreign cars in the Targa Florio road race. They would repeatedly obstruct the non-Italians in the field in order to improve the chances of the home marques. But Count Masetti had a trick up his sleeve in order to ensure he enjoyed a clear run: He had his Mercedes painted in the traditional red livery of the Italians so that no one would get in his way. The strategy proved successful and two years later gave DMG renewed victory in the Targa Florio.

In 1922 DMG sent six vehicles to the starting grid in Sicily. Alongside two other Grand Prix racing cars of 1914, Max Sailer took the production car title in a 28/95 hp model specially equipped for the race with a supercharger. The second 28/95 hp was raced without supercharger technology.

The sub 1.5-liter category featured two completely new Mercedes 1.5-liter 6/40/65 hp supercharged cars, which were closely related to the 6/25/40 hp and 10/40/65 hp models. The sports car had an output of 40 hp (29 kW), with the supercharger switched on this figure was boosted to 65 hp (48 kW). The four-cylinder engine had two overhead camshafts driven by a vertical shaft, two intake and two exhaust valves per combustion chamber and spark plugs positioned in the center of each cylinder for the first time. Top speed of the vehicle, which tipped the scales at around 1,400 kilograms, was 135 km/h.

Some time later one such engine was put on a test rig and achieved an effective output of 54 hp (40 kW) at 4000 r/min, rising to 72 hp (53 kW) with supercharging. At maximum revs of 4,500 r/min the figure was 79 hp (58 kW). This showed that with limited displacement supercharging could deliver significant benefits. The technology had previously been used successfully with aeroengines to compensate for the loss in output resulting from reduced oxygen levels at high altitudes.

Paul Scheef, driving one of the new 1.5-liter supercharged cars, finished third in his class in the 1922 Targa Florio, while the Italian Fernando Minoia at the wheel of the second race car was forced to abandon the race. Nevertheless, the Mercedes vehicles proved themselves under the most testing of conditions and at the same time demonstrated the potential of supercharger technology.