Pic Of The Week: 1952 Mercedes 300SL
This week, a 'see-through' engine bay shot of Merc's first post-war sports car
As you might guess from the identical badging, this beast inspired the W198 300SL road car that made its debut in 1954. Like the W198, the W194 featured gullwing doors, necessitated by the bulky sills of the tubular chassis beneath.
Unlike the fuel-injected W198 the W194 featured a carburettor-fed version of the three-litre straight-six. The engine was taken from the 300-series passenger cars, and modified to take three carbs. The rest of the car was made as light as possible by drilling holes and cutting away metalwork wherever possible. The result was a car that took first and second place at Le Mans, while setting a new top speed record of 96mph, as well as first and second on the five-day Carrera Panamerica, and all four top spots at the Nurburgring.
What makes this picture so intriguing is that it’s possible to see some of the engineering that made the W194 so unique. Some of those tubular chassis spars are visible at the top of the engine bay – note, indeed, how the exhaust manifold winds its way around them. That it does is testament to the heavy canting of the engine, enforced by engineers to lower the centre of gravity, as well as the bonnet line, in an effort to improve aerodynamics.
While perhaps not as famous as the road car, it’s still one to remember. Enjoy!
Traditional (4:3)
Computer widescreen (16:10)
TV widescreen (16:9)
Portrait (smartphone, etc)
That SLR was specially built for him, based on the works racers. Just the ultimate road car for me, nothing else comes close, and I'm a C-Type fan.
Old classic MB, ageless and mechanically superb, how could I ever part with this, its worth very little now but it has had a permanent home here for past 13 years.
Look at the earlier picture re rear end shape of the white coupe, pure design shape and metalwork execution - most modern stuff is silver boxes with no soul - both european and jap stuff.
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