The Hamburg Flyer, a train consisting of two cars – each having a driver's cab and passenger cabin – was ordered by the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft in 1932 from Waggon- und Maschinenbau AG Goerlitz (WUMAG). The train was delivered in 1932 and put into service in 1933.

The train was streamlined after wind tunnel experiments, a sort of research which was pioneered by the developers of the high-speed interurban railcar bullet a couple of years before. The Fliegender Hamburger design was very similar to the bullet's. Its lightweight, articulated construction and Jakobs bogies were also known on the US interurban scene. However, the Fliegender Hamburger had diesel-electric propulsion. Each of the two coaches had a 12-cylinder Maybach diesel engine with a direct current generator directly coupled to it, which drove a Tatzlager traction motor. The two engines developed a combined power of 604 kW.