Mercedes-Benz Classic vehicles at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance
Mercedes-Benz Classic is exhibiting two outstanding automobiles from the company's own vehicle collection at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance 2018. The Mercedes-Benz Classic collection is unique in the automotive industry in terms of its importance and size. It includes spectacular racing and record-breaking cars as well as research vehicles and production cars from every era.
The two vehicles that will be displayed at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance demonstrate two very different interpretations of automotive sportiness from Mercedes-Benz in the 1930s. The Mercedes-Benz 500 K Special Roadster from 1934 is a highly elegant sports car, which the Stuttgart brand offered with customized coachwork bodies. On the other hand, the W 125 record-breaking car from 1938, calls back to the numerous race victories and speed records of the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows of that era.
Mercedes-Benz W 125 twelve-cylinder record-breaking car, 1938
For the first time, the original chassis of the twelve-cylinder record-breaking car from 1938 will be on display. For Pebble Beach, it is paired with a body newly built by Mercedes-Benz Classic. The original body of the car is part of the permanent exhibition at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. One of the vehicle's legendary achievements is the absolute speed record on public roads set by Rudolf Caracciola on January 28, 1938. He reached 432.7 km/h on the Autobahn between Frankfurt am Main and Darmstadt over one kilometre with a flying start. That record remained unbeaten for almost 80 years. The presentation of the original chassis and the newly-built body, which has been reconstructed to the highest standards of authenticity, provides fascinating insight into the details that made the world record possible. For example, the ice cooling of the engine, which helped improve the aerodynamics of the fully streamlined body while achieving a sensationally low Cd value of just 0.17.
Technical data of Mercedes-Benz W 125 twelve-cylinder record-breaking car
Raced in: 1938
Engine: V12
Displacement: 5577 cc
Output: 541 kW (736 hp) at 5800 rpm
Top speed: 433 km/h
Mercedes-Benz 500 K Special Roadster, 1935
In the 1930s, Mercedes-Benz dominated the market segment of international luxury class with its eight-cylinder supercharged cars. The "Type 500 with supercharger", 500 K for short, came out in 1934 as a sporty and elegant top model of the Mercedes-Benz passenger car range. It was available in eight different body versions. The crowning glory of all variants was the especially elegant and luxurious Special Roadster. With an original price tag of 26,000 and later 28,000 Reichsmark, it was the most expensive version of the 500 K. Only 29 units were produced. The 500 K and its successor, the 540 K, became legends not only because of their superior power delivery, but also because of their ravishingly beautiful, luxuriously finished coachwork bodies. They were built under the direction of Hermann Ahrens in the special car construction department, which was founded in 1932 at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen. With their elegant, flowing lines and extensive options for personalization, the bodies made in Sindelfingen were so highly coveted that, out of the 760 customers who purchased a 500 K or 540 K, fewer than 10 percent opted for coachwork from one of the renowned coachwork builders in Germany or abroad – an exceptionally low proportion for a luxury vehicle in those days.
Technical data of Mercedes-Benz 500 K Special Roadster
Production period: 1934 to 1936
Engine: 8/in-line
Displacement: 5018 cc
Output: 74 kW (100 hp), 118 kW (160 hp) with supercharger at 3400 rpm
Top speed: 160 km/h
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For more information, please contact:
JoAnne Caza 416-847-7550 joanne.caza@mercedes-benz.ca
Sinead Brown 416-847-7588 sinead.brown@mercedes-benz.ca
Further information from Mercedes-Benz Canada is available at media.mercedes-benz.ca.
