When the Messerschmitt design team headed by Walter Rethel started in 1934 with the work on a new fighter for the Luftwaffe this resulted in a fighter aircraft that gained the same fame as the British Spitfire. The new fighter type became known as the Me-109 (or Bf-109 where Bf stood for the original name Bayerische Flugzeugwerke) and when production started in 1937 this was continued until the end of the war. However, the latest ME-109 versions had little more in common with the first versions. The two versions that were in production until the end of the war were the Me-109G and the much improved last version the Me-109K.