The whole of the carriage turning circle outside historic Goodwood House will become a paddock devoted exclusively to Mercedes-Benz competition cars. Many of the classic Mercedes will also run up the hill course as part of the annual competition.

One of the oldest cars at Goodwood this year will be a Benz works Grand Prix racer of 1908. It had Michelin tyres strengthened with steel studs to improve traction and the front wheels had no brakes! The car took second, third and seventh place in the 1908 French Grand Prix, beaten only by Christian Lautenschlager in a Mercedes. It was the forerunner of the legendary "Blitzen Benz" which was then the fastest land vehicle in the world.

Sauber

Michael Schumacher learnt part of his trade in a Sauber-Mercedes C11 in the Group C racing back in 1990. The 730 hp V8 Mercedes engine gave the carbon-reinforced plastic monocoque car a maximum speed of just under 200 mph.

300 SLR

The Formula 1 racing car for the road -  that was the description given to the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR of 1955. It was based on the Formula 1 single-seater of the time and just ten were built in 1955.

It went on to win a great victory at the hands of Stirling Moss with co-driver Denis Jenkinson in the Mille Miglia and the Sports Car World Championship in 1955. As well as the open topped SLR two rare coupe versions were built.

In the mid-50s it was the fastest car allowed on public roads with a maximum speed of around 174 mph.

190SL

Even rarer was the 190 SL racing version which was built for Max Hoffman who headed the American Mercedes-Benz importer. It was very light, at just 1,000 kg and had a racing windscreen and window-less doors. Even the hood and bumpers were done away with to save weight.

W25

Back in 1934 new regulations were introduced for Grand Prix cars which were restricted to a weight of 750 kg. To meet these stringent new rules Mercedes-Benz built the W25, a completely new car with an eight-cylinder compressor engine and swing-axle chassis. It also featured a new layout of engine and transmission to allow the driver to sit low in the car and bring the whole centre of gravity lower. Further weight-saving was achieved by drilling holes in many of the steel and aluminium sections of the car. It was light, low and aerodynamic. Five different engines would eventually be slotted into the W25 chassis.

Streamlining took on a new meaning with the shape of the W25 Avus Streamline of 1937. The organisers of the Avus race dropped their 750 kg rules and opened the race up to free formula. This allowed Mercedes-Benz to fit a V12 5.6-litre engine, originally designed for speed record attempts, into the W25 chassis.

Manfred von Brauchitsch incredible speeds of around 236 mph on the Berlin Avus track. Later the car was converted to an eight-cylinder in-line from the W125. The fully flared aluminium bodied Avus was years ahead of its time in being aerodynamically efficient.

W154

In 1938 Mercedes-Benz already had the W154 in the winner’s stable. It has a Rootes compressor on both banks of its V12 cylinder block and pushed out some 430 hp at 8,000 rpm. The following year just two models were fitted with an upgraded engine which generated 480 hp.

W165

Regulations for the Tripoli Grand Prix of 1939 were amended at very short notice. It gave Mercedes-Benz just six months to build a new car to comply with the new rules. And so the famous W165 was born.

With a 1.5-litre V8 (!) engine to meet the new rules, the W165 was often called the "Little Mercedes" but it more than demonstrated its strength and power. Hermann Lang drove one car to victory at Tripoli and Rudolf Caracciola brought another W165 home in second place.

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is on July 6th, 7th and 8th.

Link: www.goodwood.co.uk