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Motorsport special edition road cars - the good the bad and the ugly

The showroom spec '417' Mercedes 300SL driven to fifth overall and first in GT class in the 1955 Mille Miglia by ex-P51 Mustang pilot John Fitch is one of the cooler racing cars you possibly haven't heard of before. Obviously Stirling Moss's barnstorming victory in the same race, assisted by Denis Jenkinson's pioneering pace notes, is the one everyone remembers. But having sportingly gifted Moss both Jenks and his Perspex box of pace notes, Fitch recruited a replacement co-driver, came up with his own simplified instructions and put in a truly epic drive. That his bog stock Gullwing (swing axles and all) wasn't too far behind Moss - driving effectively an F1 car in GT bodywork - is one of the great unknown stories of the '55 Mille.

Fitch and Gesell in the real 417 SL

Well, unknown outside of geekier Mercedes factoid circles at least. And why I used to take great pride in recounting it as justification of listing the '417' 300SL as my all-time lottery win car. Everybody likes to take 'ownership' of a fact or anecdote like that, the ability to deploy it and enjoy reflected glory in its possession the nub of many an online discussion. And that was mine. All mine.

And now Mercedes has gone and ruined it for me by creating a special edition SL Mille Miglia 417. So now everyone will know about it. Is it suitably special and respectful of Fitch's heroic drive, and the possibly even more heroic achievement of the unsuspecting journalist Kurt Gesell, who read out his pace notes between cries of "Mein gott!"? Is it heck. It's an SL400 or SL500 with ... some red bits added and a 417 badge on the dash. Basically because Mercedes has run out of ways to spin the whole Stirling Moss/722/Mille Miglia thing any further.

Tasteful celebration? Erm, possibly not

Off the back of this announcement we played a quick game in the PH office of special edition street cars branded by racing drivers or racing victories. And quickly realised there are is a very fine line between those that are respectful and enhanced by the association. And those that are simply tragic cash-ins the drivers concerned should be ashamed of having their names against.

Good ones? It's hard not to think of the various special edition Imprezas - the Catalunyas, the Series McRaes, the RB5s and the like - that once fired our imaginations. Arch rivals Mitsubishi arguably came up with the best though - the Makinen Edition Evo VI. E30 M3s are desirable enough anyway; add Cecotto or Ravaglia to the badge and they're instantly cooler. And perhaps double the price. Ex-Caterham man James put forward the Jonathan Palmer Evolution Seven as another good example, and a rare one at that. VXR8 Bathurst? Perhaps more mainstream? How about 911 Carrera or Targa? Ford Escort Mexico?

Yeah, that worked for all concerned...

OK, enough of the fondly remembered ones. What about when the credit has been more painful marketing pillage than respectful recognition? Infiniti FX Vettel Edition anyone? Fiat Stilo and Seicento Schumacher? Gordini Renaultsports? Citroen C4 by Loeb? Or how about Astra VXR Nurburgring, lacking only the prefix 'likely to understeer off the' to be truly accurate.

Anyway. I'll mutter into my beard about the 417 SL. And leave the PH masses to come up with the heroes and zeroes from the leagues of motorsport monikered road cars. Let's have 'em!

Dan

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JamesyBoy75

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188 months