"First, an admission. Until very recently we had never been truly moved by the brand that is Mercedes-Benz. We can't help but acknowledge the noble heritage of the marque, nor the fact that they make some of the most outrageously, "
Mercedes W-194
Been thinking of Lewis Hamilton’s move to Mercedes for the coming F1 season. What with Merc’s talismanic association with Stirling Moss and the great Ross Brawn’s involvement in the Mercedes F1 team, there’s a great chance that despite appearing to abandon his life blood, Our Favourite Driver steps forward with a real sort of heritage.
Anyway, these thoughts buzzing around the brainbox we came across these images of the the W-194, the first Benz postwar racer.
Apparently, the lack of a decent power-to weight ratio in the road going Mercedes 300 series saw designer Rudolf Uhlenhaut successfully experimenting with low weight frame-building for a race version.
You can see how the welded together triangles of the frame here may well have been inspired by bicycle frames. Every cycle geek known that welded together tiangles give great torsional stffness without the lass required by other formats. The frame weighed in at only a shade shy of 80 Kilos.
Fully clothed the W-194 was successful in almost everything in its premier season of 1952, and laid the bedrock of Mercedes-Benz’s resurgence and the success of the perennial SL badge.
Another reminder that Motorsport matters! Go Lewis.
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