G E A R E D - I N
October 2003: Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren
By Ulysses Ang
Photos Courtesy of DaimlerChrysler Press Office

Talk about this topic on the messageboard!

Juan Manuel Fangio.  Stirling Moss.  Karl Kling – three of the men who wrote motoring history in the 1950s and the ones who made the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR one of the most successful racing sports cars of all time. 

The 1955 300 SLR had a formidable 3.0-liter eight-cylinder engine under its bonnet developing a healthy figure of 310 horsepower and 310 Newton-meters of torque.  It is capable of reaching speeds in excess of 300 km/h – enough to power this Silver Arrows to victory among the most prestigious road races of the time: Mille Miglia, Targa Florio, Tourist Trophy, Eifelrennen and the Swedish Grand Prix.

Commemorating the vast achievements of the racing car, Rudolf Uhlenhaut, head of Mercedes-Benz’s passenger-car testing and racing car development program of that time, proceeded to build a road-going version, the 300 SLR Coupé.  Weighing in at 1,117 kilograms, the 300 SLR Coupé had the racing car’s swooping shape and unique gull-wing type doors.  Uhlenhaut plunked the same powerplant of the racing car into the coupe—easily making it the fastest two-seater of its time, and one of the most exciting cars that Mecerdes-Benz has ever built.

However, the 300 SLR Coupé was never destined for production.  Mercedes-Benz thought that the mid-1950s was not the right time to bring out such a powerful sports tourer.  The project was put on ice, with only two prototypes of this masterpiece of power and elegance ever built.  But, as would soon be proven, legends never die.

The original 300 SLR Coupe was never destined for production, although its racing brethren absolutely dominated the competition in its time. Now, Mercedes-Benz has resurrected the SLR name. Built in conjunction with McLaren Cars Limited in Woking, England, the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren is the pinnacle of engineering and design.

NEXT PAGE >>>