One Year
Never Losing Sight Of Perfection
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 transport a racing car to events around Europe, you build a magnificent transporter that attracts everyone’s attention and is one of the fastest carriers as well. 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? Visit melbourne mercedes to learn more about mercedez .
The making of the transporter is a story of zeal, self-respect, and practicability. Mercedes Benz had been involved in a brutal competition with other racing teams in the days before the First World War. However, when Mercedes cam out with the V12 driven W-154, it won 12 of the 17 events up to the war, and staked the number one slot. It was only in 1952 that the management at Mercedes decided to re-enter Grand Prix racing, and they finally did so in the season starting in 1954.
Mercedes thus built a special carrier for its W-196, a new breed of racing cars to have a celebrated Argentine racer behind its wheels. The carrier had to be unique, fast, and clearly seen as a Mercedes Benz design. 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.
You got a lot of extra time for prep runs and practice if you managed to get to the racetracks first. It also gave you ample time to send a damaged car to the plant for repairing and get it back to the tracks well ahead of time. From a mechanical viewpoint, the haulier had been incorporated with the best of Benz technology. The 300 SL series? 3.0 liter, 6-cylinder engine and four speed manual transmission was derived and installed in it, as was the X-frame of the 300 S sedan. The brakes on every wheel were power-assisted along with the customary hydraulic drums. For more information on mercedez check out mercedes benz cars.
However, the transporter’s most unique aspect was the grand framework. The panels that were used on it were built on the models that used to be in existence in that time. The interior fixtures, the windshield, and the door’s 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.
Even when the cab had been placed well past the front axle, and at an extremely low height, the look was one of defiance and engineering excellence exactly what Mercedes Benz wanted to convey. The clear, definitive, factory blue paint on the final product only added to its instant success. Even with a full payload of 6,600 pounds, the truck could speed up beyond 100 mph, something that would be fast in today’s date too.
The transporter was released in the middle of the year 1954 and was a hit not only in Europe but also in the U.S. In fact, at times, it attracted more crowds than the racing cars that it actually carried. Subsequent to the calamity at the 1955 French 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, wherein a Mercedes Benz 300 SLR, being privately entered, crashed and took the lives of 80 people, Mercedes Benz stayed away from racing altogether. The end of that year saw the whole racing department, inclusive of the transporter, being taken out of production.
Plans were made that the vehicle should be retained in the company museum along with its cargo, but this idea was given up when it was found that the floors would not be able to take the combined weight. Seeing that the inquiries after its termination never seemed to end, Mercedes Benz made a decision to develop a replica in 1993. Using only a few sketches and pictures and an outside fabricator, the company came out with it in 2000. A short, albeit magnificent, page in the history of Mercedes Benz racing had been restored for the amazement and wonder of all its fans.
Queen – One Year Of Love (Lyrics)