The Mercedes Benz Way To Do Things: Never Make Do With Second Place

The only people who have the capacity to conceive of a great idea like this one are those that are obsessed with perfection, like the people at Mercedes Benz. Develop a transporter to convey a racing car to different events in Europe, and make it in to the best transporter the world has ever laid their eyes on. But why did the company put in such huge chunks of money in designing and constructing a carrier that was obviously non-commercial? Wasn't the job possible with just a big van? More information on the topic of mercedez is located at mercedes dealers melbourne.

The tale behind the construction of the transporter involves adherence to one's principles, zeal for one's craft, and last of all, common 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, the V-12 powered W-154 released by Mercedes proved itself to be the car that became everyone's envy, winning 12 of the 17 events before the war. Mercedes had remained away from Grand Prix racing till the 1954 season, returning then because of a decision that had been taken two years earlier.

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 look different than any other of its kind while being instantly identifiable on the road as being designed by Mercedes. They designed it to be one of the fastest cars on the Western European freeways of the time as well.

To be one of the first to reach the racetracks meant that you got more time to rehearse and organize. 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. Technically, the transporter incorporated the best that Mercedes Benz had to offer. The X-frame of the 300 S sedan got modified to give the transporter its frame, and the 3.0 liter, 6-cylinder engine of the 300 SL sports cars, along with their four speed manual transmission, was installed under the hood. The brakes on all the wheels were power-assisted apart from the regular hydraulic system. For more information on mercedez check out mercedes benz cars.

But the most remarkable thing was the transporter's body work. The steel panels that were used n it were mostly derived from other models that were in fashion in the time. The 180 S served as the template for the doors, the interiors fixtures, and the windshield. Between the front and rear fenders was space for two spare tires, loading ramps as well as tools and other equipment for the race car.

The front axle was kept unnaturally far behind the single cab, which in turn was placed too low, but the result was that the look was one that was uniquely Mercedes. It was finished off with a simple, factory blue paint, and this only supplemented its appeal. 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. Actually, it was the case that the transporter drew more attention than the racers it carried. As a consequence of the tragedy at the 1955 French 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, where a Mercedes Benz 300 SLR that had entered privately crashed and killed80 people, the company went in to a hiatus from racing. By the autumn of that year, the entire racing division, including the transporter, was retired.

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. In 1993, Mercedes Benz started making out with a replica following a large number of appeals about it. With the assistance of a few draft plans, an outside fabricator, and a few photographs, the company came out with the replica in 2000. A brief, but glorious page in Mercedes Benz racing history had been miraculously returned to once more amuse and amaze both new friends and old alike.