Magical Moments

Mercedes-Benz Classic
Magical Moments
120 Years of Motorsport
“Motion is tranquillity.”
— Sir Stirling Moss
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120 Years of Motorsport
Ever since the car was first invented, design engineers have been striving for
supreme performance: bigger, more powerful, faster – these are the goals that they
have achieved with courage, inventiveness and skill in equal measure. Towards the
end of the 19th century, it was also about demonstrating to people the benefits of
motorised travel over the tried-and-tested horse-drawn carriage. And one of the key
benefits, as all automotive pioneers knew, had to be speed. They were aware that the
motor car only had a real chance in the market if it could get its passengers to their
destination quicker than a horse.
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Men, masters and motor engines
Carl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach did their utmost, therefore, to ensure
that their engines were able to deliver more than the original 0.75 to 1.1 hp and
that their “motor carriages” were capable of accelerating at ever-increasing speeds.
20 km/h – that was the target everyone was aiming for back then.
However, it’s one thing to develop technology further; it’s quite another to convince
customers to buy it. If Carl Benz originally thought that a good product like his patent
motor car would sell itself just like that, he very soon realised that his invention would
not be successful without publicity. Just like Gottlieb Daimler, he visited regional and
national trade fairs, travelled abroad and even presented his car at the World Exhibition
in Paris in May 1889. However, the rewards for all of these efforts were small. The
order books remained empty.
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So, another way had to be found to promote the motor car and to inspire confidence
in its technology. In short, they had to come up with a new advertising concept. And it
came from France. The French newspaper Le Petit Journal, with its colour weekly
supplement, was seen as particularly innovative and was also renowned for its highprofile advertising campaigns. After organising the first long-distance cycling race
back in 1891, the newspaper’s publisher Pierre Giffard came up with the idea at the
end of 1893 of holding a competition for “Voitures sans cheveaux” – vehicles without horses. Along the 126-km route from Paris to Rouen, steam-, battery- and petrolpowered vehicles were required to demonstrate not only their speed but also their
reliability and operating safety.
The event was a complete success. Gottlieb Daimler and his son Paul also travelled to
Paris and took their places amongst the spectators close to Porte Maillot.
“Large crowds gathered,” Paul Daimler said as he later reminisced about the event.
“On the heavy steam-powered vehicles, we saw stokers, dripping with sweat and covered
in soot, shovelling combustion material into the furnaces. And then we saw the drivers
of the vehicles with gasoline and petroleum engines, perfectly relaxed behind the steering
wheel, operating levers every now and then - as if they were just out for a little jaunt. It
was an incredible sight to behold and one I will never forget.”
It was an event that also remained etched on the memory in Stuttgart, as nine of the
17 motor cars that crossed the finish line were equipped with Daimler engines, among
them the first four cars to finish the race. Known as the “Moteur système Daimler”,
it was manufactured under licence based on original plans by Gottlieb Daimler by the
French car manufacturer Panhard & Levassor. This first endurance race from Paris
to Rouen in 1894 marked the world’s first motorsport event and also the first sporting
success for the Stuttgart-based brand.
It made the car famous and led to the founding of the Automobile Club de France, which
organised the first “proper” race in 1895. This ran over the considerable distance of
1,192 km from Paris to Bordeaux and back, following a basic principle that still applies
today: the fastest wins. Once again, it was the French cars equipped with the “Moteur
système Daimler” that won out.
The speed races that took place from 1895 onwards in Paris, London, Marseille, Nice,
Berlin, Chicago and elsewhere boosted the automotive business. The slogan “Win
on Sunday, Sell on Monday” became a recipe for success for the manufacturers who
therefore made great efforts to turn up and win.
Mercedes-Benz motorsport: a remarkable story of success, from the first race
120 years ago to the present-day German Touring Car Championship (DTM), and
from the first Grand Prix to Formula One.
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He’s done it! There was endless cheering from spectators as Émile Levassor turned into the home straight
on 14 June 1895 in Paris. Having driven his petrol-engined motor car for 48 hours and 47 minutes, he became
the winner of the first “proper” motor race in the world. On the 1,200-km route from Paris to Bordeaux and back,
the two-seater achieved an average speed of 24.4 km/h. The race car’s engine had been designed by Daimler.
“Moteur système Daimler” – to victory with two cylinders
Daimler engines prove successful at the first motor race in 1894
The race from Paris to Rouen became a model for other events of this
type, which took place from 1895 onwards throughout Europe and the rest
of the world. The first American motor car race on 2 November 1895 was
won by a Benz. The motor car capable of reaching speeds of 15.5 km/h was
the only one to cover the entire distance of 92 miles and to cross the
finishing line in Chicago.
Who built the best “horseless carriage”? This question
preoccupied Pierre Giffard to such an extent that the
publisher of the Petit Journal decided to organise a race
in 1894. Steam-powered and electric vehicles as well
as the new, petrol-engined motor carriages were invited
to put their driving characteristics to the test on the
route from Paris to Rouen. Even though it was only just
under 130 km, everyone knew that this type of distance
would present major challenges to both drivers and
vehicles, especially as they were expected to complete
the drive in a mere 10 hours.
When the race began on the morning of 22 July 1894,
21 cars took to the starting line. Of these, 17 finished the
race. The first across the finishing line in Rouen was a
20-hp steam-powered car. This was followed by a Peugeot
Vis-à-Vis and a Panhard & Levassor Type P2D.
However, as this contest was not just about speed, but
also about safety and manoeuvrability, the panel of
judges rejected the unwieldy steam-powered car and
declared the models from Peugeot and Panhard &
Levassor to be the winners. The judges argued that they
were lightweight, easy to handle and “of great interest”.
The victory at the world’s first motor race was also
a victory for the Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft. After
all, the Stuttgart-based company had developed the
engines that had propelled the four first-placed cars to
victory. The V-shaped two-cylinder four-stroke engine,
manufactured under licence as the “système Daimler” by
Panhard & Levassor, generated 3.5 hp.
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Mercedes – the launch of the first modern automobile
The success story of the Mercedes marque begins at Nice Racing Week in 1901
Fire alarm in Cannstatt: the Daimler engine plant went up in flames.
Disaster had struck. It was June 1903 and the important Gordon Bennett
race was due to start in Ireland in just three weeks’ time. However, the
90-hp racing car built especially for the race had also fallen victim to the
fire. Daimler was forced to improvise and borrowed three cars from its
customers. The Belgian race driver Camille Jenatzy drove one of these 60-hp
sports cars in the race – and won.
At the end of March 1901, all eyes were on the world
of motor racing on the Côte d’Azur – and on a new
car whose development had been initiated by businessman
Emil Jellinek at Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG).
Jellinek competed in race events under the name of “Monsieur Mercédès”. His pseudonym, also the name of his
daughter, became the brand name for the new model. The
first Mercedes had been born. It was clear from the very
first glance that this car was different from all the others
lining up for the start of the Nice Racing Week. Its body
was lower, the wheelbase larger and the track wider. In
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short, it was the first car no longer based on the design
of a horse-drawn carriage. The four-cylinder engine produced 35 hp – also a sensation at the time.
the race, Paul Meyan, Secretary General of the French
Automobile Association, stated: “Nous sommes entrés
dans l’ère Mercédès.” (We have entered the Mercedes era).
With so much advanced technology, the 35 hp Mercedes
dominated the entire contest: works driver Wilhelm
Werner reached a speed of 86 km/h at the Nice-SalonNice race and secured a comfortable victory. He won
just as convincingly at the hill climb from Nice to La Turbie,
increasing the average speed from 31.3 to 51.4 km/h.
These successes were so impressive that, looking back on
The public and industry professionals alike were in
raptures. The Mercedes became the symbol of a new era
in automotive engineering. Anyone who could afford it
wanted to have such a car. Customers from every corner
of Europe sent their orders to DMG and accepted the
long delivery times.
Lyon 1914 – a victory for determination
Thanks to precision engineering and perfect planning, Mercedes secures its first triple victory
The US racing driver Ralph
DePalma bought a Mercedes
Grand Prix car and shipped it back
home. Here, he took to the starting
grid at the legendary Indianapolis
500-Mile Race in 1915 – which he
won easily.
It was the most demanding race in Europe: 752 km had
to be covered on 4 July 1914 at the French Grand Prix
in Lyon – 752 km on a circuit with more than 100 bends.
This required the best design engineers, the best technology and the best drivers.
The Mercedes team had it all. The Stuttgart-based engineers built a completely new four-valve engine that
delivered more than 100 hp and was able to handle an
engine speed of more than 3,000 rpm for the first
time. This enabled the Grand Prix car to reach speeds
in excess of 180 km/h. The Mercedes team spent two
weeks in Lyon exploring every metre of the circuit and
produced a detailed track profile. This formed the basis
for a race strategy with precise timings for pit stops
and tyre changes. Nothing was to be left to chance in the
face of the powerful competitors. This master plan put
the Stuttgart team way ahead: before the eyes of more
than 200,000 spectators, Mercedes clinched a triumphant one-two-three win – the first in the history of Grand
Prix racing. This success from the Stuttgart-based
marque was a sequel to the success of 1908, the year
in which Mercedes had already won this important
international race – also with Christian Lautenschlager
at the wheel.
“There can be no greater achievement than this,”
wrote the newspaper Excelsior, and Autocar reported on
a “victory for superiority”, which “the Mercedes people
secured primarily with their heads”. However, the story
was not to be continued: three weeks after this triple
victory in Lyon, the First World War broke out and the
racing engines remained silent for the time being.
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Targa Florio – 7,000 corners and two victories
The Mercedes compressor enjoys its finest hour at the Sicilian race
The first big race at the AVUS circuit in Berlin began with a false start –
for Mercedes at least, as Rudolf Caracciola stalled his engine and had to
be push-started. An embarrassing moment. However, he finally got started
and went on to achieve record times despite the pelting rain. It was Sunday,
11 July 1926: Caracciola won the first German Grand Prix – and established
his reputation as the “rain master”.
Sicily in spring 1924. A dry and dusty place. No surfaced
roads, just mule paths and dirt tracks. Motor racing on
this kind of route is a challenge for man and machine.
One that has a name: Targa Florio.
The race had already been won by a Mercedes in 1922:
not by one of the six works team cars, but by the red-painted racing car owned by the Italian private driver, Count
Giulio Masetti. This meant that now – on 27 April 1924 –
there was a lot at stake. Finally, Mercedes wanted to
show the powerful Italian competition what it could do.
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Three Mercedes cars were sent to Italy – all of them
fitted with a new two-litre engine capable of delivering
126 hp thanks to supercharging. However, anyone
wishing to drive to victory in the Targa Florio also had to
be prepared for other things – keeping overly patriotic
spectators at bay, for instance. That’s why the Mercedes
team painted its racing cars not in the usual white, but
in the Italian racing colour: red. This confused the fans
along the side of the road who were known for occa­
sionally hampering and even sabotaging foreign cars.
The route covered a distance of 540 km with a total of
7,000 bends. Mercedes driver Christian Werner did it:
he recorded the best time, won the Targa Florio and also
retained a clear lead in the fifth lap which meant he
brought the Coppa Florio home, too. “This victory also
means success for the supercharged engine,” declared
the Mercedes press office shortly after the race. They
were right: the Targa Florio marked the beginning of a
new era in motorsport. The supercharged engine became
standard technology on Mercedes racing cars and
remained a guarantee of great victories until 1939.
The supercharged era – “S” for success
Mercedes-Benz writes motor racing history in the 1920s with the S-type racing sports car
Private racing driver Manfred von Brauchitsch wanted to use aerodynamics to become even faster and had his Mercedes-Benz SSKL covered with
a streamlined body shell. Colleagues and spectators mocked the car, calling
it a “drivable cigar” or, even worse, a “cucumber”. However, at the AVUS
race in 1932 Brauchitsch was the fastest on the track. He became famous
and, a little later, was awarded a contract by Mercedes-Benz.
For two years, more than 3,000 men had worked hard
to lay a 28 km strip of tarmac through the Eifel hills. A
road-building masterpiece. It was now complete and on
18 June 1927, the Nürburgring was officially opened. One
day later, the engines thundered around the circuit for
the first time. Mercedes-Benz was there. The engineers in
Stuttgart had not been idle over the past few months,
either. The strapping sports touring car that stood right at
the front of the starting grid had never been seen before.
The official name of this brand-new supercharged car was
Type S (for “Sport”). It was known simply as the “white
elephant”, not only because of its paintwork but also
because of its size (five metres), weight (1.9 tonnes) and
the sound of this powerhouse. The spectators cheered
as Rudolf Caracciola made the supercharger roar as he
set off towards Hatzenbach. He set a tremendous pace
for 12 laps, finally winning the opening race with a clear
lead. His team colleague Adolf Rosenberger came sec­ond – and the Type S became the new winning model in
motorsport. Thanks to the supercharger, the 6.8-litre sixcylinder engine generated 180 hp. Just one month after
its debut at the Nürburgring, Mercedes-Benz celebrated
a triple victory in the Eifel at the German Grand Prix,
repeated its success one year later with the more
advanced Type SS (for “Super-Sport”) and then went
on to dominate the major races in Argentina, Ireland,
Italy and Switzerland. In its final incarnation, the short
SSK version delivered up to 300 hp. It was in this car
that Rudolf Caracciola became the first non-Italian to win
the Mille Miglia in 1931, as well as a number of other
races, to earn himself the European Hill Climb Championship title in the same year.
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Eifel race, 1934 – the paint comes off
The Mercedes-Benz “Silver Arrows” are born overnight at the Nürburgring
The “secret signal service” is what
racing manager Alfred Neubauer called
his idea of giving signs to the drivers
using flags and pieces of cardboard, telling
them where they were placed and how
they should drive. This pioneering concept
is still used today.
White was the colour of Germany. Since the early days
of motor racing, German racing cars had traditionally
featured a white paint finish. However, this changed overnight at the beginning of June 1934.
In that year’s racing season, a new regulation was
introduced forcing manufacturers to shed weight. From
this point on, their Grand Prix racing cars could weigh
no more than 750 kg. Mercedes-Benz had therefore
developed the completely new W 25, a modern monoposto with independent wheel suspension and a 354-hp
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eight-cylinder engine. There was just one thing that was
not right during the technical inspection on the eve of the
international Eifel race at the Nürburgring: the weight.
At 751 kg, both W 25 models were too heavy. Racing
manager Alfred Neubauer was in despair but, as legend
has it, he had a sudden flash of inspiration: “The paint has
to come off.” Having his team work through the night,
he had the white paint stripped off so that the car turned
up for the race the next day with a gleaming aluminium
body – and within the 750-kg weight limit.
Stripped of its colour, the racing car was now unstoppable. Manfred von Brauchitsch, the new man in the
Mercedes-Benz team, set a new track record with an average speed of 122.5 km/h and laid the foundation for
an unprecedented success story in which silver would become the colour of victory. Rudolf Caracciola, Germany’s
most famous racing driver, also continued his career in the
W 25 Silver Arrow: in 1935, he won six out of nine races
to secure the first ever European Grand Prix Championship
title.
Lightweight and slim, the Mercedes-Benz W 25 racing car took to the starting line for the Eifel race on 3 June
1934. Due to the 750-kg formula, a completely new type of racing car had been created. The regulation not only
specified the weight and maximum width of the racing car; it also enabled the construction of a single-seater
body for the first time – a monoposto. This meant that the cars were much lighter – and much faster: with the
260 kW/354 hp eight cylinder, the W 25 had achieved a top speed of almost 300 km/h by 1934.
The 1937 race season – Rudolf Uhlenhaut reinvents the Silver Arrow
After an unfortunate series, Mercedes-Benz begins 1937 with a completely new racing car – and once again drives from victory to victory
The W 125 continued to prove successful even after the end of the
750-kg formula: in August 1939, Hermann Lang won the German Hill Climb
Grand Prix at the Grossglockner. The output of the most powerful Silver
Arrow was not exceeded in Formula One racing cars until the early 1980s.
Just two wins in one year – that was a tragedy for the
Stuttgart-based racing team. The Daimler-Benz board
recognised that something had to be done after a string
of bad luck in the 1936 season and decided to establish
a separate racing department within its vehicle development. Rudolf Uhlenhaut was only 30 years old when
he was appointed its technical director in autumn 1936.
The test engineer brought with him a number of good
ideas as well as another equally important talent: he could
get racing cars moving. Really fast! “He is the only design
engineer that ever understood how to get a Grand Prix car
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around the track at racing speed,” said team manager
Alfred Neubauer, adding: “Uhlenhaut heralds a completely
new era in racing car construction.”
He was right. The young engineer put the W 25 through
stringent testing. The knowledge gained was used to
develop a new suspension setup which – to put it simply –
was based on the principle of “soft springs, stiff damping”. Yet this was not enough. The chassis, axle location
and engine also came under scrutiny, which ultimately
led to the development of a completely new Silver Arrow.
This was the W 125, the most powerful Silver Arrow of
the 1930s producing 475 kW/646 hp. With Hermann Lang
at the wheel, the new machine competed in the Tripoli
Grand Prix for the first time on 9 May 1937, winning with
a new track record of 216.3 km/h. From then on, nothing
could stand in the way of the W 125. In 1937, MercedesBenz won seven major races and celebrated sensational
double and triple victories. When Rudolf Caracciola took
the European Championship title again, the frustration
of the previous year was long forgotten.
The three-litre formula – 400 litres of alcohol
The Mercedes-Benz W 154 is the most successful racing car of the 1930s
The 1938 season began with a drum roll for Mercedes-Benz:
on 28 January 1938, Rudolf Caracciola raced his way to an unbeatable record.
In a 736 hp 12-cylinder record car, he achieved a breathtaking 432.7 km/h on
the motorway between Frankfurt and Darmstadt. This world record still stands
today – it is the highest speed ever reached on a public road.
A continuous output of 453 hp and a top speed of
285 km/h – these are the impressive figures set by
the new W 154 Silver Arrow that competed in the 1938
race season. The first 12-cylinder racing car from
Mercedes-Benz, it complied with the new regulations
restricting the cubic capacity to a maximum of three
litres for super-charged engines. The incredible power of
the V12 Mercedes-Benz drive unit was generated with
the help of two compressors with a 2,962-cc displacement.
In addition, it also used the special mixture that had been
brewed in Stuttgart as a petrol replacement: 88 percent
methyl alcohol plus smaller quantities of acetone, nitrobenzene and sulphuric ether. Around 400 litres of this fuel
could fit into the two tanks, one in front of the cockpit
and one behind – a highly combustible cargo as Manfred
von Brauchitsch was to discover at the German Grand
Prix on 24 July 1938. When he entered the pits for a refuelling stop, his W 154 suddenly burst into flames causing
panic amongst the team. Quick as a flash, one of the mechanics grabbed a fire extinguisher and racing manager
Neubauer himself rushed over to smother the flames with
a blanket. Despite this shocking moment, Brauchitsch
could not be prevented from driving on. He jumped back
into the Silver Arrow, started up the engine and continued
the race.
However, the biggest star in the W 154 cockpit was
Rudolf Caracciola. In 1938, he took the European Championship for the third time in the highest echelons of
motorsport, followed in places two to four by his team
mates Brauchitsch, Lang and Seaman. The W 154 continued to dominate the racing action in 1939, going on to
become the most successful Silver Arrow of the 1930s.
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Tripoli 1939 – a moment of glory in the desert
Mercedes-Benz surprises everyone with a new Silver Arrow – and a convincing double victory
Racing driver Hans Stuck had a dream: he wanted to be the world’s
fastest man. Ferdinand Porsche had designed the T 80 record car for him
by 1939 and Daimler-Benz produced the 8.24 metre long powerhouse
with three axles. The drive unit was to be a 3,000-hp aircraft engine. The
ambitious goal was 600 km/h. But it remained a dream: before Stuck
could launch his record attempt in 1940, the Second World War put a stop
to his plans. The T 80 was never used.
It was not Monaco or Monza, but the Libyan capital of
Tripoli that provided the venue for the most spectacular
race since the mid-1930s. In the Italian colony they certainly knew how to celebrate in style – and the annual Gran
Premio di Tripoli was always an excellent opportunity for
this. However, for years the host country had organised
this prestigious race without a home victory. What better
reason to come up with a new regulation? The Italians
therefore stipulated that the 1939 race would only be
for cars with a displacement of up to 1.5 litres, secretly
hoping that the much-feared Silver Arrows would not
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compete. They knew that Mercedes-Benz did not have a
racing car that complied with the Voiturette formula.
However, Rudolf Uhlenhaut and his team did not
accept defeat that easily. They developed a completely
new monoposto – in just eight months. Eight cylinders
and 254 hp with a displacement of just 1.5 litres were the
benchmark figures that were to prove the key to success.
The public, competitors and race organisers were more
than surprised when, at the beginning of May 1939, two
Silver Arrows of the new type W 165 turned up at the El
Mellaha desert circuit where Hermann Lang and Rudolf
Caracciola began training immediately. They were even
more surprised, however, when the race started and
Hermann Lang took the lead, which he did not relinquish
for the remaining 40 laps. He finished three minutes
ahead of the rest of the field, with Caracciola in second
place – the Italians had been beaten once again. The
prestigious victory in Tripoli was the first and only outing
for the W 165 – Mercedes-Benz finished the rest of the
1939 season with the W 154 in the standard Grand Prix
formula.
Lang ahead of Caracciola: the convincing double victory at the Tripoli race also symbolised a new order for the
rankings in the team of racing manager Alfred Neubauer. Rudolf Caracciola, who was then 38 years old and had
been driving for Mercedes-Benz since the early 1920s, did not find it easy to take his place behind the younger
Hermann Lang. But Lang was faster and more successful – and in 1939, in the last season before the Second
World War, he became the unofficial European champion. Many years later, Lang would say of Caracciola that he
had been the “ideal role model” for him: “The greatest master behind the wheel.”
A new beginning in 1952 – a racing car with “gull wings”
Five races – four wins: Mercedes-Benz returns to motor racing with a drum roll
The legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans presented the 300 SL with its
toughest challenge so far. More than two thirds of the drivers dropped out.
Even Kling and Klenk fell by the wayside when the generator on their 300 SL
failed. But the two other Silver Arrows in the race made it to the finishing line.
They persisted, lap after lap, hour after hour, with the efficiency of a Swiss
precision timepiece. The race was a double victory for the 300 SL as Lang/
Riess and Helfrich/Niedermayr crossed the line – an outstanding result.
Just four months after the end of the Second World
War, motor racing began in Europe again – without
Mercedes-Benz. The Stuttgart factory lay in ruins and was
unable to restart production of the Silver Arrows until
February 1951. However, the pre-war cars were no longer
competitive. The team under racing manager Neubauer
saw better opportunities in sports car racing. So they began working on the development of a racing sports car,
which the engineers always characterised as “super light” –
or SL for short.
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The backbone of the new 300 SL was formed by
Uhlenhaut’s delicate masterpiece: weighing just 50 kg,
yet torsionally stiff, the space frame supported the uprated motor, transmission and axles of the legendary type
300 “Adenauer Mercedes”. To achieve the necessary
stability, the frame was very high at the sides, making the
use of conventional doors impossible. This is how the
car got its characteristic folding doors, pivoting from the
roof. In the US, these were later referred to as “gull
wings”. On 3 May 1952, the new racing coupé took to
the starting line of the Mille Miglia for the first time.
“This is the day on which my second youth began,” noted
Alfred Neubauer in his diary. He was right. Taking second
place in the 1,000-mile race, Mercedes-Benz made an
impressive return to the world of motorsport and, at the
end of 1952, could look back proudly on its successful
track record with the 300 SL: a triple victory at the Bern
Grand Prix, a double victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
and at the Carrera Panamericana and a quadruple victory
at the Jubilee Grand Prix for sports cars at the Nürburgring.
A legend was born.
F1 World Championship in 1954 – the Silver Arrows make a triumphant comeback
Juan Manuel Fangio is the new star of the Mercedes-Benz Formula One team, securing the World Championship title at his first attempt
“The Blue Wonder”. The racing car transporter that the Daimler-Benz
test workshop constructed in the mid-1950s was a unique vehicle. It was
designed to transport the Silver Arrows from the Stuttgart factory to the
racetracks at top speed and was equipped with the six-cylinder engine of the
300 SL, which enabled the “delivery van” to reach speeds of 165 km/h.
The roads and squares were virtually deserted as the
whole of Germany gathered in front of its radios on Sunday, 4 July 1954 at precisely 5 pm for the kick-off of the
World Cup final. 89 minutes later, Helmut Rahn scored
the deciding goal: Germany was the World Champion and
the whole nation celebrated the “miracle of Bern”. At
the same time, Mercedes-Benz won the French Grand Prix,
laying the foundation for yet another World Championship. In Reims, Mercedes-Benz celebrated its first Grand
Prix victory since 1939 – marking the return of the Silver
Arrows. To achieve this, they had worked very hard and
developed a completely new racing car based on the new
2.5-litre formula, which set a new technical benchmark
with its futuristic streamlined body, space frame and gasoline direct injection. Under the aerodynamic body roared
a 256-hp inline eight-cylinder, which had propelled the
W 196 R to speeds in excess of 270 km/h. At the race in
France, the spectators and competitors had no idea of the
twin-pronged strategy that had been devised in Stuttgart
for the new Silver Arrow. Chief developer Rudolf Uhlenhaut
secretly had a second variant of the W 196 R. With its
open wheels, it was capable of faster lap times on narrow,
winding sections due to improved visibility. Also new was
the man in the cockpit of the No. 18 car: Juan Manuel
Fangio, the 1951 World Champion. The Argentine was not
only victorious in Reims in 1954 but also at the Nürburgring
and in Bern and Monza and can now secure the Formula
One World Championship for a second time – this time in
a Silver Arrow. A triumphant success, which he went on
to repeat in 1955.
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Mille Miglia 1955 – 1,000 miles in record time
With the 300 SLR, Stirling Moss sets a record that still stands today
Superiority: no other word sums up the successes of the 300 SLR more
succinctly. After four victories, the Targa Florio brought the season to a
spectacular close. When Stirling Moss spun off the track, he got the 300 SLR
back on course and continued as if nothing had happened. Despite the
dented bodywork and bent chassis, Moss also won this final race of the 1955
season, a victory that would secure the World Sports Car Championship
for Mercedes-Benz.
“I’ll win,” Stirling Moss shouted to the spectators. Then
he stepped on the throttle and disappeared with a deafening roar into the lanes of the North Italian town of Brescia.
It was Sunday, 1 May 1955: the 22nd Mille Miglia had
the whole of Italy holding its breath. More than 530 cars
took part in the legendary Brescia-Rome-Brescia road
race. Mercedes-Benz was there with its latest Silver
Arrows. Juan Manuel Fangio, Karl Kling, Hans Herrmann
and Stirling Moss were all driving the newly developed
300 SLR, which appeared in public for the first time in
Italy. Developed specially for the World Sports Car
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Championship, it was a powerhouse par excellence. Under
the bonnet throbbed the uprated heart of the Formula
One racing car: an eight-cylinder inline engine with direct
injection, which had been increased to 3,000 cc and
delivered up to 310 hp. This drive unit enabled a top speed
of more than 300 km/h. On the very first leg between
Brescia and Verona, Hans Herrmann achieved an average
speed of 192.23 km/h, yet Stirling Moss had taken the
lead by Rome. In the end, he kept his promise: in 10 hours,
7 minutes and 48 seconds, Moss and his co-driver Denis
Jenkinson won the race in a new best time, setting a
record that would not be broken to this day: an average
speed of 157.65 km/h. In second place was Juan Manuel
Fangio, who was competing in the strenuous road race
on his own. The two Austrians Helmut Retter and Walter
Larcher were also among the winners of this Mille Miglia.
With their standard Mercedes-Benz 180 D they were the
fastest in the diesel category, proving that a self-igniting
car also had what it took to be a racing car.
With the aim of offering drivers better protection against the elements on long-distance races, Rudolf
Uhlenhaut equipped the 300 SLR with a closed body. The result was the “Uhlenhaut coupé”, a fascinating car
with the technology of a successful racing sports car, the gullwing doors of the 300 SL and truly staggering
levels of performance: the two-seater reached 290 km/h on a motorway test drive by Automobil Revue whose
editors only regretted that this car would probably never be available for sale. They were right: the SLR coupé
remained a racing prototype of which only two examples were produced. However, the experts were agreed: this
car marked the pinnacle of Mercedes-Benz involvement in motorsport in the 1930s and 1950s.
There was endless jubilation as the 220 SE with the start number 711 crossed the finishing line on 4 November
1962 – above all, because there were two women sitting in the cockpit. Ewy Rosqvist and Ursula Wirth won the
Touring Car Grand Prix of Argentina with a new best time – and with a good three-hour lead.
Rally Championship – the sporty side of the “tail fin”
The 220 SE and 300 SE Mercedes-Benz tail fin saloons are among the most successful rally cars of the 1960s
“A” for Aufrecht, “M” for Melcher and “G” for Großaspach – these three
letters are synonymous with high-end racing and top-performance cars. The
company was founded on 1 June 1967 and celebrated its first great success
at the 24-hour race in Spa-Francorchamps with the 428-hp Mercedes-Benz
300 SEL 6.8 AMG. Today, AMG enjoys success in all areas of motorsport: in
Formula One, at the German Touring Car Championship (DTM) and in
customer sports.
It’s not evident at first glance, but this saloon has all
the qualities you’d expect of a sports car. This was
demonstrated by the “tail-fin Mercedes” just a short time
after its market launch in autumn 1959. At the MonteCarlo Rally, for instance, where private teams backed by
the factory brought the 220 SE to the starting line in
January 1960 and demonstrated just what it could do.
Without the usual studded tyres, Walter Schock and
co-driver Rolf Moll drove the luxury-class saloon along
snow-covered mountain passes, survived the “Night of
the Long Knives” at the Col de Turini and arrived in the
principality of Monaco as the overall winners. In the end,
there was even more reason to celebrate as the MercedesBenz drivers also secured second and third position in the
overall placings.
Walter Schock and Rolf Moll kept their winning form
during the 1960 season and finally won the European Rally
Championship – for the second time since 1956. The
“tail fin” met with success outside Europe as well. From
1961, it won the Argentinian Touring Car Grand Prix
four times in succession. This is a gruelling race over more
than 4,500 km, partly on rough roads. In 1963, this extraordinary endurance test was won by a 300 SE, which
Mercedes-Benz had been using to compete in rallies and
tourer races since the middle of the year. The blue rally
car with the white roof was driven by Eugen Böhringer, the
1962 season European Rally Champion.
In response to reporters asking him how he managed to
stay fit during such challenging endurance races, the
trained chef revealed his recipe for success: a glass of
milk with plenty of dextrose plus a shot of rum.
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Rally marathon – a defining moment in South America
A luxury coupé as a rally car - the big moment for the Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC comes at the end of the 1970s
Belgian driver Jacky Ickx had already competed in many Formula One and
Formula Two races and celebrated eight Grand Prix wins when he set off
on 1 January 1983 with actor Claude Brasseur for a very special adventure:
the Paris-Dakar Rally. The team chose the Mercedes-Benz 280 GE for the
10,000 km trek through Africa. They were not disappointed: Ickx/Brasseur
won the extremely challenging rally.
28,600 km through tropical forests, pampas and high
mountains: at the Vuelta a la América del Sud Rally
both drivers and vehicles had to demonstrate particular
steadfastness, especially as the regulations stated that
only near-series cars could compete. No modifications to
engine, transmission and body were permitted. It was
therefore no wonder that Mercedes-Benz thought it had a
real chance of victory under these conditions. It put its
faith in the 450 SLC luxury coupé powered by the triedand-tested 4.5-litre V8 engine and in the 280 E of the
W 123 model series, winner of the London-Sydney long24
distance rally in 1977. The race got underway mid-August
1978 in Buenos Aires. The route crossed 10 South American states before returning to the starting point – where
one competitor of this marathon rally stood out above the
rest: Mercedes-Benz. Five Mercedes-Benz teams headed
up the winner’s list. First and second place went to Cowan/
Malkin and Zasada/Zembrzuski in the 450 SLC, third
place was secured by Fowkes/Kaiser in the 280 E and
the teams in the 450 SLC and 280 E came in fourth and
fifth, respectively. This type of five-fold victory had never
before been seen in Mercedes-Benz’s rally driving history.
The success story continued in 1979 on the Ivory Coast
with a quadruple victory at the Bandama Rally. On this
occasion, the winning car bore the 450 SLC 5.0 model
plate, indicating an even more powerful version of the V8
engine. Mercedes-Benz involvement in rally driving ended
in 1980 with another Bandama double victory by works
teams Waldegaard/Thorszelius and Recalde/Straimel in
the 500 SLC.
Group C – a match made in heaven
Engines from Stuttgart, racing cars from Zurich: the Sauber-Mercedes team wins the World Sports Car Championship twice
They were called the “young, wild ones”: from 1990 onwards, talented
young drivers were given the opportunity to train under the expert guidance
of racing manager Jochen Neerpasch as part of the Mercedes-Benz Junior
Team and prove their worth in the cockpit of a Group C car. In this “highspeed classroom”, one particular 21-year-old driver from the Rhineland caught
everyone’s attention. Just four years later, Michael Schumacher would go
on to take the Formula One World Championship for the first time.
The engine is the car’s heart. This fact proved true in the
mid-1980s for Peter Sauber’s racing team. The Swiss businessman entered into collaboration with Daimler-Benz
and received a powerful V8 “heart” from Stuttgart which
set his Group C racing cars on the road to success.
Based on a standard production drive, the racing engine of
the Sauber C 8 of 1986 was a 441 kW/600 hp eight
cylinder with which the team secured its first victory at
the 1,000-km race at the Nürburgring. After achieving
second place in the overall rankings in the 1988 season,
the new Sauber-Mercedes C 9 appeared the following year
with an even stronger “heart” which, thanks to its twinturbo technology, delivered 530 kW/720 hp and a maximum speed of 402 km/h. Another new feature was the
racing car’s silver livery, which provided an unmistakable
link to the great motorsport tradition of the MercedesBenz brand – a tradition to which the team was certainly
able to do justice: in 1989 and 1990, Sauber-Mercedes
won the World Sports Car Championship twice in consecutive years.
Just as memorable as these successes were the names
of the racing drivers who sweated and toiled in the cockpit of the Sauber-Mercedes at the end of the 1980s. In
1989, the ex-Formula One driver Jochen Mass secured a
historic victory on historic ground with his team mates
Manuel Reuter and Stanley Dickens: with Mauro Baldi,
Kenny Acheson and Gianfranco Brancatelli in second
place, the Silver Arrows took a double victory at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. A triumphant success –
exactly 37 years, almost to the day, after the double victory
by the 300 SL at the same circuit.
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DTM – success through evolution
Mercedes-Benz is the most successful brand at the German Touring Car Championship (DTM)
Another name that appeared regularly on the list of DTM winners was
Bernd Schneider. The driver from the Saarland worked tirelessly on his
career and in 1995 won not only the DTM but also the International Touring
Car Series (ITC). When the DTM celebrated a successful comeback in the
2000 season, Bernd Schneider was once again out in front. He won the
championship in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2006, making him the undisputed
“Mister DTM” – the most successful driver in the competition.
3 March 1988 was a date that motorsport fans
had circled in their calendars. It was the day on which
Mercedes-Benz returned to touring car racing after an
absence of several years. It celebrated its debut at the
circuit in the Belgian town of Zolder where five private
teams backed by Mercedes-Benz competed in the German
Touring Car Championship (DTM). A few days later, on
6 March 1988, the Stuttgart-based marque also officially
entered Group C and was once again actively competing
in two race series.
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Based on the standard type 190 E 2.3-16, they had built
a high-calibre touring race car capable of producing up to
220 kW/300 hp. Six victories and second place in the
overall rankings in the 1988 season bore testament to the
capabilities of the car and its drivers. But things were to
get even better. Over the next few years, the experts in the
Mercedes-Benz motorsport division demonstrated what
they understood by the term “evolution”: continuous
advancement and enhanced output. The 190 E 2.5-16
Evolution of 1989 produced 250 kW/340 hp and won
eight races, while the next stage up “Evo II” (274 kW/
373 hp) achieved a sensational triple victory in 1992.
In addition to victories in the team and constructor rankings, AMG drivers Klaus Ludwig, Kurt Thiim and Bernd
Schneider were also at the top of the driver rankings. The
“Evo” models finished their motor racing careers in 1993
after clocking up a total of 52 wins. They were followed
from the start of the 1994 season by the touring race
cars based on the C-Class with which Klaus Ludwig once
again took the DTM Championship title. With a total of
89 victories, the C-Class is the most successful model in
the DTM to date.
Indianapolis – taking to the “speedway” with 1,024 hp
Penske-Mercedes PC 23 wins the IndyCar World Series in 1994
Ilmor – a name associated with the finest in engine technology. Mario
Illien and Paul Morgan founded the company in 1984 and since 1993 have
been working closely with Mercedes-Benz on the development of high-performance engines. The British engine manufacturer produced not only the
engine for the winning car in the 1994 Indy 500 race, but also the Formula One
engines which since 1993 have taken Mercedes-Benz back to the premier
division of motorsport and brought home four World Championship titles.
Built in 1909, the oval at Indianapolis is one of the
oldest racetracks in the world. By 1915, Mercedes
had made a name for itself on the already legendary
“speedway” when Ralph DePalma celebrated a great victory with a Mercedes Grand Prix racing car. Roger Penske,
a former racing driver and successful businessman from
the US, wanted to continue this tradition in 1994. For his
successful racing team in the IndyCar World Series, the
American equivalent of Formula One, he had a new engine
developed by his long-standing engine partner, the British
company Ilmor. As part of a collaboration with Mercedes-
Benz to develop and produce racing engines, they developed a completely new 3.4-litre turbocharged V8. The
eight cylinder was an extraordinary powerhouse that took
advantage of a loophole in the regulations. The central
camshaft with pushrods, which was deeply recessed in the
cylinder block, enabled a higher charge pressure than
conventional racing engines with an overhead camshaft.
This resulted in a continuous output of 1,024 hp – around
200 hp more than the engines being used by the competition. This meant that the Penske-Mercedes PC 23 was
ideally equipped to enter the 500 Miles of Indianapolis on
29 May 1994 – and to win it. At the wheel was racing
driver Al Unser Jr. who had won 12 out of 16 races by the
end of the season and secured a convincing victory at
the 1994 IndyCar World Series. However, he had to make
do with the regular Ilmor engine: the Indy-winning engine
that had so skilfully exploited the regulations was excluded
from further use in races immediately after the triumphant
victory.
27
Race trucks – a size larger
Truck racing drivers win the European Championship eight times in Mercedes-Benz trucks between 1989 and 2001
Universal-Motorgerät (Universal Motorised Working Machine) – the
official designation of the Mercedes-Benz Unimog can be taken quite literally. This vehicle can do everything - even win races. This was proven by
Siegen-based entrepreneur Karl Friedrich Capito and his son Jost in January
1985 at the Paris-Dakar Rally. They won the truck category in the longdistance race in a 160 km/h Unimog U 1300 L. The desert rally had also
been won by Mercedes-Benz trucks in 1982, 1983 and 1984.
The earth trembles when this engine starts and its
10 cylinders are brought to life. First somewhat tentatively, but then with progressively more powerful movements, the mighty pistons do their job until the drive unit
reaches its full performance potential at 2,250 revs:
1,600 hp!
Everything is a size larger in this motorsport segment.
Not only the engines, but also the race vehicles: after all,
they are trucks – or semitrailer tractors, to be more
precise. The idea of racing with such gigantic machines
28
comes from the US, but has also been delighting spectators in Europe since the 1980s. Thousands of people
stand cheering along the side of the road as these heavyweights thunder around the track at Le Mans, Nürburg­ring
and other legendary race circuits. Mercedes-Benz only
began competing in this type of racing event in 1989, but
it quickly worked its way up to the upper echelons of the
European Truck Race Championships: Thomas Hegmann
was the first to win behind the wheel of a near-series,
type 1450 S semitrailer tractor. Then Steve Parrish secured
the European Championship title in 1990, 1992 and 1993.
From 1994 onwards, when a new racing formula was
announced, the “Superrace-Trucks” of Mercedes-Benz
remained on course for success, winning the European
Championship three times – and even securing a triple
victory in 1995. With the 1,100 kW/1,496 hp Atego,
the latest generation of Mercedes-Benz race trucks rolled
onto the starting grid in 1998, winning the European
Championship once again. After all the other manufac­
turers suspended their activities, Mercedes-Benz also
withdrew from truck racing at the end of the 2001 season.
Customer sports – gullwing models on the world’s race circuits
AMG customer sports teams achieve worldwide success with the SLS AMG GT3
To be continued! This was what Mercedes-AMG promised its customer
sports fans when it presented the concept for yet another fascinating racing
sports car: the CLA 45 AMG Racing Series. With this powerhouse, customers
of the renowned manufacturer of high-performance cars were soon able to
compete in the two-litre turbocharged vehicle category. Under the bonnet of
the four-door coupé was a four-cylinder unit delivering 265 kW/360 hp and
450 Nm of torque.
Upholding tradition. This is something that the MercedesAMG engineers and designers took very seriously when
they presented the new SLS AMG GT3 that Mercedes-AMG
had developed for customer sports in 2010. With its
characteristic gullwing doors, the ultra-modern racing car
was not only visually reminiscent of the legendary 300 SL
from the 1950s; it was equally innovative and successful.
Just as the 300 SL had achieved a number of victories
in rally and touring car racing in the 1950s, the SLS AMG
GT3 was also on course for success from the very start.
Homologated in accordance with the FIA GT3 regulations,
the racing gullwing had already secured a total of 26 victories within an extremely short period of time in its first
season in 2011. This series of successes is still being
continued today by AMG customer teams. They have won
World and European Championships as well as driver and
team titles in more than 22 race series on all five continents. The SLS AMG GT3 has been particularly successful
in long-distance races, winning no fewer than five times
in 2013: in Dubai, in Bathurst, at the Nürburgring, in SpaFrancorchamps and in Barcelona.
With its customer sports programme, Mercedes-AMG not
only delivers a competitive racing car, it also provides the
teams with service and spare parts. In addition, company
specialists are on hand at all times to provide technical
expertise to customers at the side of the track. In this way,
the high-performance brand allows its customers to benefit from the unique knowledge it has acquired during more
than four decades of motor racing.
29
Narrow and winding, it is one of the most challenging race circuits in the world. But Nico Rosberg knows
the streets of Monaco like the back of his hand. He grew up here. It’s his home. The Mercedes driver exploited
this home advantage to the full on 26 May 2013 at the Monaco Grand Prix at which he drove a spectacular race:
shortly after the start, he took the lead and remained in the top position for 78 laps despite interruptions to the
race and safety car phases. “This victory in Monaco is very special to me,” the 27-year-old enthused after the
race. “It’s a childhood dream come true.”
Formula One – the thrills continue
The MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS team kicks off the 2014 season as Vice World Champion
From Formula One to the DTM – no motor race is ever decided solely on
the track. Motor racing is a team sport. This is demonstrated, in particular,
during the pit stops when skilfully deft hands follow a closely-rehearsed
choreography to get the racing car back out on the track within a matter of
seconds. The mechanics in the pit lanes therefore also make a significant
contribution to the overall success. These are the men who are seldom
mentioned in the racing reports – the unnamed heroes.
Formula One racing is the ultimate thrill. Millions of
viewers sit in front of their TV screens for the start of these
premier class races and cheer their teams on to victory.
And it was no different back in 1998. Who would become
world champion? Michael Schumacher or Mika Häkkinen?
Ferrari or McLaren-Mercedes? These questions kept the
fans in suspense until it was decided: the 30-year-old Finn
was crowned the new Formula One Champion, also securing first place for his McLaren-Mercedes team in the
Constructors’ Championship. A year later, Häkkinen
repeated this success, taking the World Championship
title again. In 2010, after 55 years, Mercedes-Benz
competed in the top tier of motorsport once again with
its own works team. In the cockpit of the new Silver
Arrows sat two internationally experienced drivers: Nico
Rosberg and Michael Schumacher who, following his
retirement in the 2013 season, was replaced by Lewis
Hamilton. At 23 years of age, Hamilton became the
youngest World Champion in Formula One history in
2008 and has earned himself a place on the Grand
Prix winner’s podium 11 times since 2010. Nico Rosberg
celebrated his first Grand Prix victory in a Silver Arrow in
Shanghai in 2012. The Mercedes AMG Petronas team
came second in the Constructors’ World Championship in
2013. In total, the Silver Arrow drivers clocked up three
Grand Prix victories and earned themselves a place on the
winner’s podium nine times. The 2014 season sees the
start of a new era in Formula One racing: new technical
regulations stipulate that cars may only be equipped with
a 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 and an integrated hybrid system
that will recover the remaining power from thermal and
kinetic energy. Also new: the fuel quantity for the race will
be limited to a maximum of 100 kg.
31
A story that continues to enthral
Motorsport is fascinating and fun. Its energy, excitement and ever-changing narrative
delight millions. Motorsport also brings people together – in peace and transcending all
national borders.
Mercedes-Benz looks back on a great sporting tradition, one which is closely associated
with the history of the automotive brand and still shapes its philosophy to this day. After
all, at Mercedes-Benz we’ve always enjoyed a close connection with sporting attributes
such as team spirit, dedication, responsibility, competition and fairness. These characteristics not only apply to our ultra-modern, highly technically advanced cars; they also
chime with the goals of the company and its employees.
That is why the history of motorsport at Mercedes-Benz is one that has endured.
For 120 years.
32
“You never win alone. Once you start believing
something different, you start losing.”
— Mika Häkkinen
33
Magical Moments. The time of the Silver Arrows
The 10-part series “Magical Moments. The time of the Silver Arrows” on DVD and
Blu-ray Disc recounts the unique success story of an incomparable era in motorsports.
Further information:
mercedes-benz-classic.com/magicalmoments
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Further Links
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34
Index
Page
Car
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Page 18
Page 19
Page 20
Page 23
Page 24
Page 25
Page 26
Page 27
Page 28
Page 29
Page 31
Daimler two-cylinder V-engine (1894)
40 hp Mercedes-Simplex (1902)
Mercedes Grand Prix racing car (1914)
Mercedes two-litre racing car (1924)
Mercedes-Benz SSK (1928)
Mercedes-Benz W 25 750-kg racing car (1934)
Mercedes-Benz W 125 750-kg racing car (1937)
Mercedes-Benz W 154 three-litre racing car (1939)
Mercedes-Benz W 165 1.5-litre racing car (1939)
Mercedes-Benz 300 SL racing sports car (1952)
Mercedes-Benz W 196 R 2.5-litre racing car (1955)
Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR racing sports car (1955)
Mercedes-Benz 300 SE rally car (1963)
Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC rally car (1978)
Sauber-Mercedes C 9 Group C racing sports car (1989)
AMG-Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II DTM touring car (1992)
Penske-Mercedes PC 23 IndyCar (1994)
Mercedes-Benz 1450 S race truck (1990)
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 (2013)
MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS F1 W 04 (2013)
35
Regarding the information in this publication. Subject to change without notice. Colours may differ slightly from those shown.
Reprinting, even in part, is only possible with the publisher’s permission.
Mercedes-Benz Museum GmbH, Stuttgart. MB Classic 4000 · 9207 · 02 01/0114 Printed in Germany