VIN: the works 1952 Carrera Panamericana-winning Mercedes-Benz W194 300 SL chassis 00008/52
History of chassis 00008/52
Chassis 00008/52 was one of ten W194 300 SLs built up in anticipation of the 1952 season, eight of which saw competitive action. The other two cars served as development mules while an eleventh W194 was subsequently assembled to act as a test bed for the W198 300 SL Gullwing production model.
08 emerged from Mercedes’ Stuttgart factory as a silver Coupe and was registered W83 3785. Its first public appearance came at the Le Mans 24 Hours where Mercedes ran a trio of W194s. 08 was painted silver with a green noseband and allocated to Karl Kling and Hans Klenk. With grid positions decided by engine size, the three Mercedes lined up ninth (Helfrich / Niedermayr), tenth (Lang / Riess) and eleventh (Kling / Klenk).
After two hours racing, 08 lay sixth behind one of the sister cars. It continued to have a steady run until just after midnight when a wire came adrift which caused the car to short circuit. By contrast, the other pair of Mercedes entries went on to take a historic one-two.
While still in its silver livery with green noseband, 08 then served as a T-car for the German Grand Prix support race at the Nurburgring. After that it was entered for the season-ending Carrera Panamericana road race through Mexico.
Now painted silver with white front fender flashes, 08 was once again allocated to Kling / Klenk. All three W194s were sponsored by Mexican Mercedes-Benz agent, Prat Motors SA, and ran bored out 3.1-litre engines.
Famously, Kling’s progress on the opening day’s stage was slowed after he hit a buzzard at 135mph which smashed through the windscreen and briefly knocked navigator Klenk unconscious. The next day, each Mercedes emerged with eight protective bars fixed in place over the windscreen to prevent the re-occurrence of such an incident.
By day three, Kling / Klenk had moved into second position, nine minutes behind Giovanni Bracco’s Ferrari. Kling then reduced the gap by winning three consecutive stages and when Bracco retired on stage seven, 08 inherited a lead it would retain until the end. Team-mates Lang / Grupp finished second, 35 minutes down the road.
Chassis 08 was subsequently retired from competition duty and his remained with Mercedes ever since.
Notable History
Daimler-Benz
300 SL Coupe
Registered W83 3785
Silver with Green noseband
15/06/1952 IND Le Mans 24 Hours (K. Kling / H. Klenk) DNF (#22)
03/08/1952 IND German GP Support Race, Nurburgring (-) T-car (#24T)
Silver with Green flashes
23/11/1952 IND Carrera Panamericana (K. Kling / H. Klenk) 1st oa, 1st S class (#4)
Retained by Mercedes-Benz
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Mercedes-Benz - https://www.mercedes-benz.com
