Miguel Sánchez
At the beginning of 1955 Juan Manuel Fangio was already at the top. With two F1 championship titles behind him, he still had three more driving cars for Mercedes, Maserati and Ferrari. Of the eight years that he participated in the championship, five he won and two came second. An undeniable dominance thanks to an expertise behind the wheel that still masks him as the one who, for many, is still the most skilled F1 driver. Even his contemporary and rival Stirling Moss recognized him as "The most important of all time ... a father figure."
However, during the 50s pilots still did not specialize in a single category. F1 was a recent phenomenon. Thus, The great endurance races such as the Mille Miglia, Le Mans or Targa-Florio continued to be a regular stop on the calendar for drivers more focused on GPs.. Thus, the official Mercedes team prepared seven roadsters and two coupes for 1955 for sport prototype racing. All of them based on the F196 W1 and grouped under the name Mercedes 300 SLR (W196S).
A vehicle in the wake of the mythical "Silver arrows". Which had a unit destined for the hands of a Fangio in a state of grace that combined the F1 season with six races aboard this 300 SLR. Among them are the Swedish Grand Prix, the Eiffel-Nurbrugring or Le Mans. But also the Targa-Florio -where he came second- and the mythical edition of the Mille Miglia in which he finished third against a Stirling Moss capable of pulverizing all the records of the race. A historical event that 66 years later has returned to the present due to two pieces of news. The Arrival of the original 300SLR at the Fangio Museum and the presentation of the replica that you are seeing.
MERCEDES 300 SLR. MARKED BY TRAGEDY
9 races won out of 12 competed. That's the F1 history of the 196 Mercedes W1954. One of the most legendary single-seaters of all time, a symbol of the first years of the championship and a defining mount for two such iconic drivers as Fangio and Moss. A strange case of an F1 single-seater with faired wheel units. Equipped for the first time with the fuel injection from Messerschmitt BF109 aircraft of the Second World War. A marvel of German engineering from which the 1955 SLR for endurance racing was derived in 300.
However, history is pregnant with paradoxes. One of them is to retreat right at the highest moment. Just what happened to Mercedes with its 300 SLR in 1955, shocked after the call Le Mans disaster in which 83 spectators died. In fact, with Fangio the last race the 300 SLR competed was the Targa-Florio in October of that same year. A farewell with which this car closed a spectacular year, especially thanks to the victory of Stirling Moss in the Mille Miglia. One of the most outstanding performances of the Briton, in which he broke the speed record of the race thanks to a millimetric preparation of the route with his co-driver.
Of course, sharing the podium with Fangio in third position. Which was seriously hampered by the failure of one of the eight in-line cylinders of the new injection system. The jewel in the crown in a three-liter mechanical capable of delivering 310CV at 7400rpm. More than enough for the 899 kilos of the roadster versions of the 300 SLR, built around a tubular steel chassis clad with aluminum panels. A historical piece now duly kept in the Fangio Museum in the Argentine city of Balcerce, but also recreated by the Cordoba company Classics and Specials.
REGISTRATIONABLE COPY. THE 300 SLR OF CLASSICS AND SPECIALS
Three years of intense work. That is how long the Argentine company Córdoba has taken to recreate by hand the unit of the 300 SLR with which Fangio played the 1955 Mille Miglia. A replica taken care of in detail, which visually matches the original thanks to the fact that this workshop could be done with an original SLR to take the measurements. From there, and entirely in the facilities, a process began in which the tubular chassis has been recreated, only adapting the suspension socket. And it is that these, like many other mechanical components hidden under the body, are totally current.
Something logical, even more so if we take into account that the Classics and Specials started from a replica for the day to day. For this reason, this 300 SLR replica is fully registrable thanks to the Argentine artisan car law, with engine, ABS and traction control taken from Mercedes C-Class from 2002 onwards.
All this without having to give up the gruff sound of a car with cut exhaust pipes, coming out just in front of the side doors. Undoubtedly an exceptional replica, the result of arduous documentation work and many hours of craftsmanship and workshop. A good tribute to that silver arrow with which Fangio participated in six endurance races in 1955.
Photographs: Classics and Specials
