A race car carrier from a bygone era

Only the perfectionists at Mercedes Benz are capable of thinking up something like this, and no one else could ever have had seen this project to its end. Create a carrier that has to contain a racing car and take it to different parts of Europe, and make it such that it is swift and extremely eye-catching. But how could the company have had invested so much time and money in to something that was clearly not of any commercial value to them? Wasn't the job possible with just a big van?

The story behind the transporter's creation is a blending of pride, passion and practicality. Before World War I, Mercedes Benz has been locked in fierce competition with the German racing teams. 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. Resulting from a decision that was taken in 1952, Mercedes came back to the game of Grand Prix racing in the season of 1954.

To proclaim that it was back on the circuit, Mercedes made the transporter so that it would carry the W-196, a fresh model racing car with an Argentinean driver. The transporter had to be fast, unique and clearly identifiable as a Mercedes production. They designed it to be one of the fastest cars on the Western European freeways of the time as well.

You automatically got a head start if you got to the tracks first, because you got more time to acclimatize yourself with the grounds there, and take a few practice runs. This even gave a lot of extra time for repairs, and any other unforeseen eventualities. Technically, Mercedes Benz put in the best of their machinery in to the transporter. 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. The hydraulic brakes on the four wheel were power-assisted in addition.

But the really eye-catching characteristic of the carrier was its remarkable body work. The panels that were fitted on it were derived from other models that used to exist at the time. The company's 180 S model served as the outline for the doors, the windshield, as well as the interior fixtures of the carrier. The racing car's essential equipment, its tools, a loading ramp, and two spare tires, were all comfortably fitted in it.

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. The factory blue paint in the end simply made it even more popular and ever more swiftly. The truck, even when it was fully loaded with 6,600 pounds, could go faster than 100 mph, something that is taken to be fast in the current times as well.

Rolling out sometime in middle 1954, the carrier was an instant sensation at the tracks of the U.S.and Europe. The transported was more the centre of attention than the racing cars themselves. When, in the 1955 French 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, a privately owned Mercedes Benz 300 SLR killed 80 people while crashing, Mercedes Benz stepped back from public racing entirely. Till the autumn of the same year, all of the racing division had been retired, including the transporter.

Although plans were made to place the vehicle and its precious cargo in the company's museum, its weight proved too much for the building's floors and the idea, as well as the transporter itself, was scrapped. 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. With the help of an outside fabricator, and a handful of sketches and photographs, the vehicle was finally unveiled in 2000. This meant that the transporter is now immortalised in the history of Mercedes Benz racing for all those who want to see it.

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