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Only such minds as those at Mercedes Benz could come up with an idea like this, and also see it to its deserving end. Design a hauler that has to cart a racing car to various racing events spread over Europe, and make it beautiful, fast and, in a word, the best one. Why ever did the company spend so much funds and devote so many hours to design a vehicle that was so visibly non-commercial? Why did they just not use a carrier that was already there?

The tale behind the construction of the transporter involves adherence to one’s principles, zeal for one’s craft, and last of all, common sense. Mercedes Benz had been involved in a brutal competition with other racing teams in the days before the First World War. But when Mercedes came out with the W-154 that was powered by the V-12, it won 12 out of 17 events trailing up to the war, and was the unambiguous victor. It was only in 1952 that the management at Mercedes decided to re-enter Grand Prix racing, and they finally did so in the season starting in 1954.

To announce its return, Benz chose to design a special haulier that will carry its all-new W-196 racer, a racing model that had a famous Argentinean racer as its pilot. The transporter had to look different than any other of its kind while being instantly identifiable on the road as being designed by Mercedes. It also had to be faster than all similar sized rigs as well as most of the cars that plied the highways of Western Europe.

When you reached the tracks in advance you gained more time for run-throughs and other preparations. It also meant that repairs in the plants could be done comfortably and the racer could be back at the tracks in time. From a mechanical viewpoint, the haulier had been incorporated with the best of Benz technology. Its frame was inspired by the X-shaped one of the 300 S, while the 3.0 liter, 6-cylinder engine, and the four speed manual transmission reminded you of the ones in the 300 SL series. The four wheels had hydraulic brakes that were power-assisted in turn.

However, the transporter’s most unique aspect was the grand framework. Many of the steel panels were based on, or modified from models that existed at the time. Also, the majority of the interior finishing was improved versions of the ones in the 180 S, as were the doors and the windshield. It had enough space to accommodate two spare tires, a loading ramp, tools, and all necessary equipment for the racing car.

The front axle was kept unnaturally far behind the single cab, which in turn was placed too low, but the result was that the look was one that was uniquely Mercedes. The final product, painted in clear factory blue, was an immediate hit. The truck could manage speeds beyond 100 mph even with a full load weight of 6,600 pound’s something considered to be fast today as well.

The transporter hit the roads sometime in the middle of 1954 and was an immediate hit at the tracks in Europe and North America. In fact, many of the crowds that flocked to it were far greater than those that surrounded the race cars it carried. Following the tragic event at the 1955 French 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, in which a privately owned Mercedes Benz 300 SLR crashed and killed 80 people, the company actually pulled out of formula racing. Till the autumn of the same year, all of the racing division had been retired , including the transporter.

The vehicle turned out to be so heavy that the company even gave up the idea of keeping it , and its payload , in its museum, because the floors would have given way. In 1993, Mercedes Benz started making out with a replica following a large number of appeals about it. Photographs, plans, and an outside fabricator were the tools used by the company to make it and it was complete in 2000. Hence, this fleeting, yet influential, leaf in the records of Mercedes Benz racing had been rightfully restored for the benefit of anyone who cared to appreciate it.

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