I don't know anything about the pic, it just popped up on my facebook w/no further explanation. I believe it's a 1955 MB W196 grand prix racer w/full "Monza" bodywork, sporting Juan Manuel Fangio's #18. They ran w/full bodies at the faster circuits, and as as open-wheelers at the twistier ones. Drivers included Fangio, Stirling Moss, Karl Kling and Hans Hermann. In 1976 I got to see Fangio drive his '55 championship-winning W196 in a vintage race that was part of the Long Beach F1 weekend. I know I've got photos around here somewhere...
The '55 LeMans cars were magnesium-bodied 300 SLRs that were based on the W196. The 300 SLR didn't look quite as swoopy as the GP racer. In '55, Stirling Moss and co-pilot Dennis Jenkinson won the Mille Milia 1,000 mile street race in Italy in a 300 SLR, finishing in 10 hrs, 7min, 48 sec (97.96 mph) which is still quite amazing. Here are pics of Fanio in action (note the spare goggles), and Moss & Jenks in Italy. MB pulled out of racing for quite awhile after the notorious '55 LeMans crash.
The '55 LeMans cars were magnesium-bodied 300 SLRs that were based on the W196. The 300 SLR didn't look quite as swoopy as the GP racer. In '55, Stirling Moss and co-pilot Dennis Jenkinson won the Mille Milia 1,000 mile street race in Italy in a 300 SLR, finishing in 10 hrs, 7min, 48 sec (97.96 mph) which is still quite amazing. Here are pics of Fanio in action (note the spare goggles), and Moss & Jenks in Italy. MB pulled out of racing for quite awhile after the notorious '55 LeMans crash.
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I saw the one pic on FB yesterday, remembered the W196 racer I'd seen in '76 and then started to dig. All hail the internet! :bowdown:
Here's a good article on the whole deal. It says the transporter was a one-off job built in 1954, scrapped in '67 and then reproduced in '01. The color pic at the top of the thread must be the repro transporter, but I'll guess the car is original.
The cars racing in the 1955 motor sport season | Mercedes-Benz Passion eBlog
Oh, and they also make a model of it.
CMC Mercedes-Benz Racing Car Transporter 1954 + Mercedes W196 Monoposto
Here's a good article on the whole deal. It says the transporter was a one-off job built in 1954, scrapped in '67 and then reproduced in '01. The color pic at the top of the thread must be the repro transporter, but I'll guess the car is original.
The cars racing in the 1955 motor sport season | Mercedes-Benz Passion eBlog
Oh, and they also make a model of it.
CMC Mercedes-Benz Racing Car Transporter 1954 + Mercedes W196 Monoposto
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