CMC Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Coupé, Großer Preis von Schweden 1955, #15
Limitierte Auflage 1.000 Stück
Als Rudolf Uhlenhaut, der Vater des 300 SLR-Renners, 1955 zur Mille Miglia reiste, um sich den Erfolg von Mercedes hautnah anzusehen, dachte er auch darüber nach, den 300 SLR-Renner für Langstrecken-Events auch mit geschlossenem Cockpit zu versehen. Seine Überlegungen wurden in Form eines Wettbewerbscoupés mit einer Leistung verwirklicht, die kein anderer Straßensportwagen erreichen konnte. Bei einem Test auf einem gesperrten Autobahnabschnitt bei München erreichte der Zweisitzer eine Geschwindigkeit von 290 km/h.
TECHNISCHE DATEN (ORIGINALFAHRZEUG)
- Achtzylinder-Reihenmotor (Einbauwinkel: 33°-Neigung nach rechts)
- Bezindirekteinspritzung
- Desmodromische Ventilsteuerung (zwangsgesteuerte Ventile)
- Fahrwerk: vorne Dreieckslenker, hinten Eingelenk-Pendelachse
| Leistung: | 300 PS bei 7.600 U/min |
| Hubraum: | 2.982 ccm |
| Höchstgeschwindigkeit: | ca. 300 km/h |
| Radstand: | 2.370 mm |
| Gesamtlänge: | 4.315 mm |
HISTORY (ORIGINAL VEHICLE)
When Rudolf Uhlenhaut, the father of the 300 SLR racer, travelled to the Mille Miglia in 1955 to see Mercedes’ success at first hand, he also thought about equipping the 300 SLR racer with a closed cockpit for endurance events.
His thoughts were realised in the form of a competition coupé with a performance that no other road sports car could match. During a test on a closed section of motorway near Munich, the two-seater reached a speed of 290 km/h. Impressed by its extraordinary performance during a 3500 km overland journey, the test reporter of the Swiss magazine Automobil Revue said:
“We are driving a car that takes barely a second to overtake everyone else and for which 200 km/h on a quiet motorway is little more than walking speed. With its insane handling in tight corners, the car seems to suspend the laws of centrifugal force…”
The 300 SLR racer was based on the famous W196 Formula 1 championship car of the 1954/55 season. The abbreviation SLR stands for Sport Leicht-Rennen. One of the most beautiful racing cars of all time, the new SLR was fitted with a slightly different straight eight-cylinder engine, which was expanded to 3 litres of displacement. Two of the nine 300 SLR rolling chassis, 0007/55 and 0008/55, were converted into 300 SLR coupés with closed bodywork and gullwing doors. They were intended for use in the upcoming Carrera Panamericana.
The body of the SLR Coupé was clad in electron sheet, a magnesium alloy that is even lighter than aluminium. The semicircular windscreen offered very little air resistance. As in the SLR racer, the coupé driver had to operate the pedals with his legs wide behind the steering wheel. Under the bonnet was a longitudinally mounted eight-cylinder engine, placed directly behind the front axle, developing a maximum torque of 234 Nm at 5950 rpm and a maximum power of 310 hp at 7400 rpm.
Due to safety concerns following the tragic accident at Le Mans in June, Mercedes-Benz decided to withdraw from motorsport at the end of the 1955 season. As a result, the SLR coupé project was shelved and never put into production. Subsequently, Rudolph Uhlenhaut took over one of the SLR Coupés as a company car.
With a weight of only 1,117 kg and a speed of 290 km/h, the Uhlenhaut Coupé was by far the fastest road car of its time in the world.
Although the 300 SLR Coupés were no longer used for real racing, the 0007/55 chassis was no stranger to motorsport. It served the works racing team as a test car at the 1955 Swedish Grand Prix in June and the RAC Tourist Trophy in September. At the Targa Florio, the last round of the 1955 World Sports Car Championship, a total of 16,695 kilometres were eagerly tested to familiarise themselves with the 72-kilometre circuit and its 900 bends. The Mercedes team was no exception – Stirling Moss practised incessantly at the wheel of chassis 0007/55. He damaged the car at the front right; the frame was warped at this point and the wishbones bent. But that didn’t stop him and Fangio from taking a one-two with their SLR racers at the Targa Florio on 16 October 1955.
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