Mercedes-Benz built the 300 SLR racing sports car (known internally as the W 196 S) on the basis of the W 196 R Formula 1 racing car to compete in the 1955 sports car world championship. With engine displacement pushed up from 2.5 to 3 litres, the 300-hp-plus powerhouse - which gave its name to the new SLR - went on to become a truly legendary car. Added to which, the victory of Stirling Moss and co-driver Denis Jenkinson in the 1955 Mille Miglia at the wheel of a 300 SLR has secured its own place in history. Moss completed the 995 mile race across Italy in a sensational time of 10 hours, 7 minutes and 48 seconds, setting an average speed of 98 mph - faster than anyone before or since. The motor-racing press spoke with one voice of a “masterpiece of automotive art”. The 300 SLR and its drivers were literally unbeatable in every race that season and Mercedes-Benz finished the year at the top of the constructors' world championship table.

Very few racing drivers have shown the same loyalty to their brand as the unforgettable Juan Manuel Fangio. Even away from the track he swore by Mercedes cars: "Safety is the key," he was heard to say. The Argentinean ace was lured away from Maserati by Director of Motorsport Alfred Neubauer for the 1954 race season. Neubauer was a shrewd operator and was quickly on the scene to offer Fangio spare parts after his privately-run Alfa Romeo was struck by mechanical problems at the Nürburgring in 1953 - Mercedes spare parts, of course. Fangio needed no more convincing. In 1954 and 1955 he was crowned Formula 1 World Champion in his Mercedes-Benz W 196 R. His determination and commitment were legendary, and saw him coax his Silver Arrow over the finish line in even the most treacherous conditions. As the President of Mercedes-Benz Argentina with his own Mercedes-Benz sales outlet, Fangio remained loyal to the brand even after he retired from racing.

In 1952 the motorsport department of Mercedes-Benz launched the brand into one of the all-time great automotive adventures: the Carrera Panamericana race across Mexico. A total of four 300 SL (W 194)  racing sports cars - two coupés and two roadster variants - were shipped over to Veracruz, together with a full complement of engineers. Director of Motorsport Alfred Neubauer named Karl Kling, Hermann Lang and John Fitch as his driver line-up. The exacting 5-day race took place in blistering heat and placed extreme demands on both man and machine, as well as laying on one or two surprises for the drivers and teams. Travelling at full speed, the 300 SL gullwing piloted by Karl Kling and co-driver Hans Klenk, for example, was struck full in the windscreen by a vulture. Kling handled  the situation with amazing skill and, emerging the next day with thin metal bars protecting the windscreen of his car, he raced to victory over the desert tracks and remote villages of the Mexican outback. It was a triumph that made Kling a national hero in post-war Germany - not least as a result of his scarcely conceivable travails along the way. In a speech at the Schaumburg Palace, German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer was also in celebratory mood: "This win gives us the key to becoming a successful exporter.

Rudolf Uhlenhaut was appointed Technical Director of the Mercedes-Benz motorsport department in 1936. His ability to step into the cockpit and pilot a racing car at grand-prix speed if the occasion demanded it made him unique among design engineers. Who could forget how he blitzed his way around the Nürburgring, beating the lap times of even the best works drivers. However, this engaging enthusiasm for the sport was coupled with an exceptional talent as a vehicle constructor. Both his 300 SL racing sports car from 1952 - the first gullwing car - and the W 196 R and 300 SLR (W 196 S) racing cars of later years stacked up victory after victory. However, this visionary engineer and designer was also admired by car aficionados for his study vehicles - such as the legendary 300 SLR "Uhlenhaut-Coupé". Uhlenhaut oversaw the construction of two of these models, which were registered for use on public roads and based on the W 196 S. The idea was that their closed bodies and gullwing doors would serve to protect the Mercedes drivers more effectively from the elements during long-distanceraces such as the Mille Miglia. However, after Mercedes-Benz withdrew from motorsport in October 1955 they were rendered somewhat redundant, and Uhlenhaut ended up using one of these exclusive prototypes as what must be the ultimate company car.

In Reims, 1954, Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling drove the W 196 R Formula 1 racing car to a one-two victory for Mercedes-Benz in what was the car's maiden Grand Prix. Rudolf Uhlenhaut's team of engineers had developed a totally new type of 2.5-litre, eight-cylinder in-line engine, which came complete with desmodromic valve control. After observing that the valve tappets of the grand-prix engines tended to lift away from the cam surface at the top end of the engine speed range, engineer Hans Gassmann hit upon a simple yet brilliant idea to combat the problem: two cams per valve. One opened the valve as usual, but the second closed it again by means of a rocker arm. The W 196 R was built in various different versions. Some of the "new Silver Arrows" had free-standing wheels, others were equipped with a futuristic-looking streamlined body. Legendary driver Juan Manuel Fangio drove the W 196 R to the Formula 1 World Championship title in 1954 and 1955.

On the fourth lap of the 1955 Targa Florio, held over a 44 mile mountain course in Sicily, Stirling Moss and his 300 SLR had their progress interrupted by an unscheduled plunge down a hillside, their fall only broken by a handily placed boulder. Somehow, Moss emerged unscathed, but his Mercedes looked slightly the worse for wear. However, appearances turned out to be deceptive - spectators helped to pull the car back onto the road and Moss made it back to service, where his teammate Peter Collins took over at the wheel. Crisis averted, the Moss Collins combination carried on to win the race, ahead of the Juan Manuel Fangio/Karl Kling driver pairing. Another Mercedes-Benz driver, John Fitch, later exclaimed in amazement: This racing machine is built like a tank, only with the lightning reactions of a wild cat.
As exciting now as they were back then: personalities, cars and events which have shaped the history of the SLR. Discover the ancestors of the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, experience the glory of the legendary Silver Arrows and learn more about the racing drivers who defined the era.