Such an idea could not have been thought of by someone who is not obsessed with perfection, nor could s/he have had seen it to completion, unlike at Mercedes Benz. To carry a racing car to events being held around Europe, make a transporter that is attractive, fast, and one of the best in the world. Why ever did the company spend so much funds and devote so many hours to design a vehicle that was so visibly non-commercial? Why couldn't have they used a haulier that was already available?
The transporter's conception is a story of pride, fervour, and practical sense. In the days before World War I, there was stiff competition between Mercedes Benz and the other groups in Germany involved in racing. However, Mercedes' V 12 powered W 154 proved to be the car to beat, as it won 12 of the 17 events leading up to the war. Till 1952, Mercedes had stayed out of Grand Prix racing and returned to the scene only with the start of the 1954 season.
The carrier was then designed by Mercedes to carry the W-196, its latest racing model that will have a famed Argentine racer behind the wheels. The carrier was to be such that it was other any of its type, and easily recognized on the road as a Mercedes product. They also wanted it to be the one of the fastest vehicles on the roads of Western Europe.
You got a lot of extra time for prep runs and practice if you managed to get to the racetracks first. This even gave the team to repair the car, even if it was to be done in the plants, and get it back to the tracks in time. Mercedes Benz created the transporter with the best of their technologies at the time. The four speed manual transmission was that of the 300 SL sports cars, as was the 3.0 liter, 6-cylinder engine, but the X-frame was that of the 300 S sedan. The four wheels were set up with hydraulic brakes that were power-assisted as an extra measure.
But the most remarkable thing was the transporter's body work. The steel panels on it were clearly inspired from other panels of the times. The company's 180 S model served as the outline for the doors, the windshield, as well as the interior fixtures of the carrier. All in all, it could carry off two spare tires, ramps for loading, tools, and other necessary equipment for the racer with ease.
The cab was positioned way too much in the front, far ahead of the front axle, and that too precariously low, but it looked distinctively Mercedes. The paint job of clean, factory blue made it more than just a short-time success. Even at its full load weight of 6,600 pounds, the truck could manage to go at more than a 100 mph, which is fast by the standards of today even.
The carrier was rolled out in mid-1954, only to be an instant success in the racetracks of Europe and in the U.S. In fact, at times, it attracted more crowds than the racing cars that it actually carried. Following the tragic event at the 1955 French 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, in which a privately owned Mercedes Benz 300 SLR crashed and killed 80 people, the company actually pulled out of formula racing. Till the autumn of the same year, all of the racing division had been retired , including the transporter.
Initially, there was an idea that the transporter and its cargo should be kept in the company's own museum, but the weight turned out to be more than the floors could handle, and so this idea got done away with. After the demise of the carrier, Mercedes Benz got so many requests that it had to opt to build a replica in 1993. It was completed in 2000, after working with an outside fabricator, photographs and sketches. Hence, this fleeting, yet influential, leaf in the records of Mercedes Benz racing had been rightfully restored for the benefit of anyone who cared to appreciate it.
The transporter's conception is a story of pride, fervour, and practical sense. In the days before World War I, there was stiff competition between Mercedes Benz and the other groups in Germany involved in racing. However, Mercedes' V 12 powered W 154 proved to be the car to beat, as it won 12 of the 17 events leading up to the war. Till 1952, Mercedes had stayed out of Grand Prix racing and returned to the scene only with the start of the 1954 season.
The carrier was then designed by Mercedes to carry the W-196, its latest racing model that will have a famed Argentine racer behind the wheels. The carrier was to be such that it was other any of its type, and easily recognized on the road as a Mercedes product. They also wanted it to be the one of the fastest vehicles on the roads of Western Europe.
You got a lot of extra time for prep runs and practice if you managed to get to the racetracks first. This even gave the team to repair the car, even if it was to be done in the plants, and get it back to the tracks in time. Mercedes Benz created the transporter with the best of their technologies at the time. The four speed manual transmission was that of the 300 SL sports cars, as was the 3.0 liter, 6-cylinder engine, but the X-frame was that of the 300 S sedan. The four wheels were set up with hydraulic brakes that were power-assisted as an extra measure.
But the most remarkable thing was the transporter's body work. The steel panels on it were clearly inspired from other panels of the times. The company's 180 S model served as the outline for the doors, the windshield, as well as the interior fixtures of the carrier. All in all, it could carry off two spare tires, ramps for loading, tools, and other necessary equipment for the racer with ease.
The cab was positioned way too much in the front, far ahead of the front axle, and that too precariously low, but it looked distinctively Mercedes. The paint job of clean, factory blue made it more than just a short-time success. Even at its full load weight of 6,600 pounds, the truck could manage to go at more than a 100 mph, which is fast by the standards of today even.
The carrier was rolled out in mid-1954, only to be an instant success in the racetracks of Europe and in the U.S. In fact, at times, it attracted more crowds than the racing cars that it actually carried. Following the tragic event at the 1955 French 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, in which a privately owned Mercedes Benz 300 SLR crashed and killed 80 people, the company actually pulled out of formula racing. Till the autumn of the same year, all of the racing division had been retired , including the transporter.
Initially, there was an idea that the transporter and its cargo should be kept in the company's own museum, but the weight turned out to be more than the floors could handle, and so this idea got done away with. After the demise of the carrier, Mercedes Benz got so many requests that it had to opt to build a replica in 1993. It was completed in 2000, after working with an outside fabricator, photographs and sketches. Hence, this fleeting, yet influential, leaf in the records of Mercedes Benz racing had been rightfully restored for the benefit of anyone who cared to appreciate it.
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