Mercedes 300 SL W194 number 5
Blue eyes
Mercedes 300 SL W194 No.5
© press-inform – the press office
There are quite a few silver gullwing models, but this 300 SL can be recognized at first glance by its blue eyeliner that frames the headlights. The Mercedes 300 SL of the W 194 series with production number 5 is not only a driving legend among Mercedes connoisseurs.
In order to understand the importance of the 300 gullwing, you cannot avoid jumping into the time machine. The spectacular Mercedes motorsport history of modern times began with the 300 SL of the W 194 generation. It not only became the series winner in the early 1950s, but also a role model for all sports cars with the three-pointed star. The newly created 300 SL racing sports car used existing components and so the axles, gearbox and basic engine came from the 300 series representative sedan of the W 186 series. In contrast, the lightweight and torsion-resistant tubular space frame, over which the elegantly curved body made of aluminum-magnesium rests, was completely redeveloped Sheet metal bulges. Because the tubular space frame is comparatively high on the sides, the W 194 could not be fitted with conventional doors – this is how the racing sports car got the characteristic gull-wing doors that are attached to the roof. From 1954 this feature was also adopted by the 300 SL series sports car of the W 198 series, developed from the racing car. The drive was the 125 kW / 170 hp in-line six-cylinder type M 194 with a displacement of 2,996 cubic centimeters.
The racing successes of the various generations of the Mercedes 300 SL are countless. The debut with production number two won with the driver line-up Hermann Lang and Fritz Riess, among others, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1952, when the second Mercedes-Benz 300 SL with Theo Helfrich and Helmut Niedermayr was able to distance itself with 277 to 276 laps . After a 22-year absence from Mercedes, a victory at the start and then with a completely newly developed car that made a name for itself not only with its aluminum body and three-liter six-cylinder. At the 24-hour race on the legendary racing circuit on the Sarthe, the excellent drag value of 0.376 contributed to the overall victory. “The W194 is clearly different from a W198.040,” explains Daimler classic expert Michael Plag, “the sports prototype as the ancestor of the SL was developed from nothing in 1951/52. Our predecessors had little available in the years after the Second World War, but they did they had a huge idealism and were the best in their field; mechanics as well as engineers up to the victorious racing drivers of the W 194 like Kling, Lang or Caracciola. “
The 1952 Carrera Panamericana race from the southern border of Mexico to the north is still more spectacular than ever. With more than 3,400 kilometers, the Panamericana was around twice as long as the Mille Miglia. In the third edition in 1952, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL W 194 with Karl Klink and Hans Klenk also won, although a vulture broke through the windshield and injured Hans Klenk. This story became a racing legend. Before that, the 300 SL with the same driver line-up had already taken second place in the 1952 Mille Miglia and won the endurance races in Bern and at the Nürburgring.
The 300 SL with the starting number 5 can be recognized at first glance by its blue eyeliner. With production number five, Rudolf Caracciola, three-time European champion of the Silver Arrow era from 1934 to 1939, took fourth place at the 1952 Mille Miglia. Hermann Lang, European champion in 1939, finished second in the Carrera Panamericana in this 300 SL in 1952. At all events, it was the heavy-duty engine of the Mercedes-Benz 300 S that increased from 85 kW / 115 hp to 125 kW / 170 hp in the racing car of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL of the W 194 series and tilted it to the left at an angle of 50 degrees was installed. The tubular space frame, which – developed under Rudolf Uhlenhaut – weighed just 50 kilograms despite its great rigidity, became a milestone in motorsport history. While the luxury coupé of the Mercedes 300 S weighed just under 1.8 tons, the racing SL weighed just 1,100 kilograms. The tank volume in the rear grew at the same time to an impressive 170 liters, so that as little refueling as possible had to be done. The specifications of the Mercedes SL W 194 at that time had the subject of lightweight construction as the main criterion. Therefore, many parts of the technology and the body were made of aluminum and magnesium. Reliability was not a matter of course in a racing car at the time. The elaborate aerodynamics and supposed trivialities such as the comfort for the racing driver at the wheel reduced the risk of accidents significantly. This is how legends are born.