Kling was instrumental in developing Mercedes' return to international competition in the early 1950s, and his win in the 1952 Carrera Panamericana road race, driving the then-experimental Mercedes-Benz 300SL was a defining point in assuring the Daimler-Benz management that motorsport had a place in Mercedes' future.
Kling foi básico no desenvolvemento para o regreso de Mercedes á competencia internacional a principios dos anos 1950, e a súa vitoria na Carreira Panamericana de 1952, pilotando o entón experimental Mercedes-Benz 300SL, foi o punto definitorio que asegurou á xerencia de Daimler-Benz que o automobilismo tiña un lugar no futuro de Mercedes.