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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. But why did the company put in such huge chunks of money in designing and constructing a carrier that was obviously 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. Before the First World War, Mercedes Benz had been involved in a fierce rivalry with the other German racing groups. 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. It wasn’t until 1952 that Mercedes Benz management made the decision to return to Grand Prix racing, beginning with the 1954 season.

Mercedes thus designed the transporter for the W-196, a new racing model that was to have an illustrious Argentinean racer behind its wheels. The transporter had to be made so that it was distinctive, without any match in its class, and had to be easily acknowledged as a Mercedes Benz creation. It even had to the speediest of its type, as well as comparably fast to any other car on the free roads of Western Europe.

If you managed to get to the tracks sooner than most, you will definitely get more time to practice and prepare. It also gave you time for repairs and even get the car back to the tracks ahead of time. From a technical viewpoint, the carrier had the best of what Mercedes could rally. The extended X shaped frame was based on the automaker’s full sized 300 S sedan, while the 3.0 liter six cylinder engine and four speed manual transmission were similar to those installed in the automaker’s 300 SL gull wing sports cars. Each wheel was fitted with brakes that had hydraulic drums that were power-assisted.

But the most amazing part was the body work on the transporter. The panels that were fitted on it were derived from other models that used to exist at the time. The interior fixtures, the windshield, and the doors ? all of them were modelled on the ones used in the 180 S. 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 factory blue paint job as the finishing touch made this vehicle more than the regular one-year successes on the roads. It was a truck that, despite a fully loaded weight of about 6,600 pounds, was capable of more than 100 mph, fast even by today’s standards.

The transporter was unveiled in the middle of 1954 and was an immediate sensation in the race tracks of Europe and the U.S. The carrier actually pulled more crowds than the racers it transported. When a Mercedes Benz 300 SLR, that had entered privately at the 1955 French 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, took the lives of 80 people in a crash, Mercedes Benz retracted from public racing totally. This resulted in the racing division and the transporter being retired before that year got over.

The vehicle was actually so weighty that the company even had to give up the plan of preserving it in their museum as the floors would not have been able to take its weight. Finally, in 1993, Mercedes Benz came to a decision of making a replica when they saw the large number of inquiries that came to their desks after its termination. Using only a few sketches and pictures and an outside fabricator, the company came out with it in 2000. Now, this amazing vehicle by Mercedes Benz does not have to sink in to fameless oblivion ? and shall ever be retained in racing car history in the form of the replica.

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Mar012011

Tags: auto, car dealer, Luxury Cars, Mercedes Benz, Trucks

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