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I am afraid my repository of classic car photos is rather limited...:o

 

This one I encountered on the motorway earlier this year.

 

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Rgds

 

C.

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Porsche 914 is correct. No idea which version.

 

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Over to you!

 

Rgds

 

C.

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When they were for sale new in showrooms, the manufacturer lost money on every one of these magnificent specimens - today, they are among the most sought after collector cars of all.

 

JZG

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That door handle mechanism or very similar was used on a number of cars e.g. our De Mola bodied Alfa Romeo 6C2500 (but without a lock barrel in its case). Vignale used a very similar one on the Cunningham and virtually identical Ferrari 212 but it's not either of those. In this case I think it is on a Mercedes 300SL Gull Wing.

 

Wilson

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Wilson,

 

Well reasoned !……….and the correct answer. I initially thought about concluding my post by mentioning that I had chosen this particular shot because it could very well have been one of dozens of cars from the '50s that featured this popular door handle, and the solution was to be found in deduction and a process of elimination.

 

It appears that is precisely how you arrived at the correct answer ……it's just another generic Italian-made door handle, until you realize that it's location at the bottom edge of the door identifies the only car with that handle in that spot, i.e. the 'Gull Wing', since the characteristic up-swinging doors could not extend all the way down to the rocker panel due to the space frame being in the way.

 

Over to you.

 

JZG

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John,

 

I believe the door starting where it did on the Gullwing, was actually to keep the weight of the door down, to reduce the load on and weight of the mechanism in the roof, which raises the doors. If you look at the later 300SL cabriolets, which use a near identical chassis, the regular swing open doors extend down to the bottom of the vents in the wings. For some reason nobody can really explain, the cabriolets handle better than the Gullwings, which is the exact opposite of what you would expect plus the later ones have the advantage of disc brakes.

 

Your second car is the much rarer and "name your price, starting at $10M" 300SLR with the straight 8 desmodromic valve engine or maybe a replica thereof, as the originals usually have wire wheels. I will look out a picture to post later today.

 

Wilson

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Your second car is the much rarer and "name your price, starting at $10M" 300SLR with the straight 8 desmodromic valve engine or maybe a replica thereof, as the originals usually have wire wheels. I will look out a picture to post later today.

 

Wilson

 

It is NOT, Wilson.

 

This is chassis #0011/52 (W194/11), the 300 SL transaxle prototype from 1952. Had been made for racing in the 1953 season, but wasn´t used because Mercedes decided to go F1 in 1954. Some technical solutions (chassis) influenced the later W198 F1 car and it could be seen as a test car for those. The engine was the known 215 hp for the later series model 300 SL though. Historically this is somehow the missing link between W194 and W198.

 

This unique car "should" be called the "Uhlenhaut Coupe" as it was THE 300 SL which had the most details following Uhlenhauts design/construction wishes. As we know the two wired wheel 300 SLRs are called the "Uhlenhaut Coupes" today, not this one. Those two later 300 SLRs show details which were not based on Uhlenhauts ideas.

 

This prototype had the internal name "Hobel" (plough) at MB because especially the front end didn´t look "final" and needed some more design work. Designer was Walter Gragert who came from Gläser/Dresden.

 

The driving performance of W 194/11 was better than W194/8, several tests with Fangio and Uhlenhaut (who was a very good driver) proofed that.

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Unfortunately I do not follow this thread like in the past, as the growing babies (1 year) demand a lot of interest and care at the moment. At least one girl seems to be interested in classic race car photos/models, old cameras and boats, haha!

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It is NOT, Wilson.

 

This is chassis #0011/52 (W194/11), the 300 SL transaxle prototype from 1952. Had been made for racing in the 1953 season, but wasn´t used because Mercedes decided to go F1 in 1954. Some technical solutions (chassis) influenced the later W198 F1 car and it could be seen as a test car for those. The engine was the known 215 hp for the later series model 300 SL though. Historically this is somehow the missing link between W194 and W198.

 

This unique car "should" be called the "Uhlenhaut Coupe" as it was THE 300 SL which had the most details following Uhlenhauts design/construction wishes. As we know the two wired wheel 300 SLRs are called the "Uhlenhaut Coupes" today, not this one. Those two later 300 SLRs show details which were not based on Uhlenhauts ideas.

 

This prototype had the internal name "Hobel" (plough) at MB because especially the front end didn´t look "final" and needed some more design work. Designer was Walter Gragert who came from Gläser/Dresden.

 

The driving performance of W 194/11 was better than W194/8, several tests with Fangio and Uhlenhaut (who was a very good driver) proofed that.

 

Ronald,

 

Thanks for that very knowledgable exposé. I knew it was not a standard Gullwing and with the side exhaust and extra vents in the rear wing, just assumed it might be an SLR with the straight eight engine. I also saw it did not have the correct faired in headlights for the SLR so then wondered if it could be one of the replicas made by various people. Given that an alloy bodied "ordinary" Gullwing sold for over $5M (with premium) a couple of years ago, maybe my estimate of $10M for this car might not be that far out.

 

Wilson

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Wilson, there are so many "strange" 300SL on shows, auctions and concours today, so many stupid stories around those that it´s a real delight tallking about this very special car which was always in ownership of MB since 1952. This is not a "tell a good story and sell like hell car", this is just a PROTOTYPE in it´s basic meaning. I really love that!

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Ronald,

 

Mercedes have always had a real appreciation of their wonderful history and I love it that they use their cars from the museum regularly, even if from time to time, they blow up and have to be rebuilt. I was a bit surprised that given the thickness of their wallet, they did not buy the W196 that was sold last year, to add to their others. They are almost certainly the best custodian of these very rare cars.

 

I presume you have seen the film of Jochen Mass driving the W125 up the Grossglockner pass. Mind you I would not let HIM borrow a Smartcar to do that, having heard what he has done to various classic cars (e.g. €32,000 bill after a 15 minute drive). :D

 

Wilson

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