Mercedes 300 SLR Coupé

[Hobbes]

On a recent visit to the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart I finally had a chance to see one of the most fantastic road cars ever made: the Mercedes 300 SLR Coupé.



Mercedes took a Formula 1 car (the W196) and derived a road racer from it: the 300 SLR, famous for winning the Mille Miglia race in a record time (with Stirling Moss and Dennis Jenkins). Then they built a couple of SLRs with a coupe body and managed to get them allowed for use on public roads. Can you imagine it? From 1955, Merc race dept. director Rudolf Uhlenhaut used one of these as personal transport, traveling thousands of km with a car that weighed less than 1000 kg and had a 300 bhp Formula 1 engine in it, giving it a top speed of 290 km/h. The contemporary Jaguar XKSS, derived from the D-type racer, no slouch either, had a top speed of about 240 km/h.

Needless to say, I'm currently hunting for the Revell kit of the SLR Coupé.

[bobbo]

Instant Automobile Lust.   

bobbo

[PR19_Kit]

There was one of the two 300 SLR Coupes at the recent Goodwood Festival of Speed. It made the most amazing sound going up the hill, quite unlike anything else, but as it was the only straight eight there I guess that's not surprising. 

[Mossie]

Beutiful car, if James Bond ha been German, this would have been his DB5.

Ducks incoming.....