Tag Archives: W198

Figlio Del Vento – Mercedes Benz W198 300 SL Coupé #198 040 65 00279

Aged 18 John Surtees finished 6th aboard his Norton 500 on his debut in Grand Prix Motor cycle racing at the 1952 Ulster Grand Prix.

In 1955 John won his first and only 250 cc Grand Prix aboard an NSU at Ulster which helped secure a ride with MV Agusta with whom he would remain for the rest of his motorcycle racing career up until the end of 1960.

Mercedes Benz 300 SL Coupé, Edenbridge Fun Day,

Now focusing on the 350 and 500 classes John won his first World Championship in the 500 class in 1956, the year in which today’s featured Mercedes Benz 300 SL Coupé was built, with three wins from three starts.

1957 was not such a good year for the partnership netting just a single win in the 500cc Dutch Grand Prix, but they bounced back in 1958 and 1959 by sweeping all the Grand Prix races in 350cc and 500cc classes to give John 25 Grand Prix wins and four World Championship titles.

Mercedes Benz 300 SL Coupé, Edenbridge Fun Day,

In the final year of their partnership John, who by now was known as “figlio del vento” son of the wind, won two 350 cc Grand Prix and 5 500 cc Grand Prix to secure two more World Championship titles and became the first man to win the Senior Isle of Man TT three times in a row.

MV Agusta were reluctant to supply bikes for John to race in UK, when not Grand Prix racing, so he became involved with racing on four wheels making his debut in Formula Junior and then quickly progressing to Formula One making four Grand Prix appearances with team Lotus in 1960 that culminated with a second place finish behind Jack Brabham in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Mercedes Benz 300 SL Coupé, Edenbridge Fun Day,

With seven World Championships to his credit on two wheels John switched all of his attention to racing on four wheels from 1961 electing to decline an offer to be Jim Clark’s number two at Lotus in favour of a two year spell with Reg Parnell’s Yeomam Credit team which ran Climax powered Cooper T53’s in 1961 and Lola Mk4’s in 1962.

Two second places in Britain and Germany and 4th in the final Championship standings with the Lola aroused the attention of Enzo Ferrari who signed John for the 1963 season.

Mercedes Benz 300 SL Coupé, Edenbridge Fun Day,

John finished the 1963 season 4th in championship again, but this time with his first Grand Prix win on four wheels at the German Grand Prix.

In 1964 with the Ferrari 158 the team were resurgent with wins in Germany and Italy backed up by second place finishes in Holland, the USA and Mexico were enough for John to become the first and so far only man to win World Championships of two wheels and four.

Mercedes Benz 300 SL Coupé, Edenbridge Fun Day,

Lotus and BRM gained the upper hand again in 1965 when John finished the Championship in fifth behind Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart and Brabham driver Dan Gurney.

Ferrari looked to be best prepared for the start of the 3-Litre era of Formula One and a win in Belgium looked to confirm John as the most likely candidate to win the title, but then a disagreement with Ferrari management at Le Mans saw John walk away from Marranello and into one of the only other 3 litre cars available the Cooper Maserati T81.

Over the remainder of the season John finished 2nd in Germany, 3rd in the USA and first in Mexico, finishing second in the Championship to Jack Brabham who became the first and so far only driver to win the World Formula One Championship in a car bearing his own name.

Mercedes Benz 300 SL Coupé, Edenbridge Fun Day,

During the second half of 1966 John drove a works supported Lola T70 in the Can Am Championship and became it’s inaugural champion with 3 race wins.

In 1967 started a two year spell with Honda in Formula One that brought John’s final Championship Formula One win at the 1967 Italian Grand Prix after John had introduced Lola’s Eric Broadley designed chassis to the team.

Mercedes Benz 300 SL Coupé, Edenbridge Fun Day,

John spent one year at BRM, with whom he finished a best third in the USA, in 1969 before turning the Surtees Racing Organisation, SRO, in Edenbridge in to a constructor of racing cars that in Formula 2, Formula 5000 and Formula One.

Fellow motor cycle world champion Mike Hailwood won the 1972 European Formula 2 Championship driving a Surtees TS10 in 1972, the same year that Gijs van Lennep drove a Surtees TS 11 in all but one round of the 1972 Rothmans European Formula 5000 Championship which he won.

The Championship highlight of the SRO challenge in Formula One, which lasted until 1978, was Mike Hailwood’s 2nd place finish in the 1972 Italian Grand Prix the year the team finished it’s all time high 5th in the constructors championship.

John also won the non Championship Gold Cup at Oulton Park driving a TS7 in 1970 and a TS9 in 1971, the following season the debut of the TS14 at Monza would be his final Grand Prix start before retiring, though he added a further Gold Cup win in 1981, when the race was run for historic cars, driving a Maserati 250F.

Today’s featured 1956 Mercedes Benz 300 SL Coupé # 198 040 65 00279, originally sold to a customer in the USA, was bought by John in the early 1990’s and registered in the UK on the 23rd of June 1992, he kept it until 2008.

The car, seen at a recent Edenbridge Fun Day, was bought by it’s current owner at the Coy’s Techno Classica 2011 Auction for just north of half a million dollars.

Thanks for joining me on this “Figlio Del Vento” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Rudge Wheel Roadster – Mercedes Benz (W198) 300 SL

In 1955 Mercedes Benz introduced it’s 300 SL Gullwing Coupé, at the behest of their American agent Max Hoffman, and over the next 2 years built 1400 examples.

Mercedes Benz 300 SL, Danville Concours d'Elegace

For reasons that are not entirely clear to me Mercedes Benz did not introduce the almost mechanically identical roadster version until 1957.

Mercedes Benz 300 SL, Danville Concours d'Elegace

The major difference between the two models is that the space frame required lower sills than the gull wing to permit front hinged doors.

Mercedes Benz 300 SL, Danville Concours d'Elegace

The fuel tank and rear axle were also redesigned which allowed the spare wheel to be taken out of the boot /trunk and mounted beneath the floor panel.

Mercedes Benz 300 SL, Danville Concours d'Elegace

With the space between the boot / trunk lid freed up Mercedes offered it’s customers bespoke suitcases to fill the space up, as there was no storage in the cabin area as there had been in the Coupé.

Mercedes Benz 300 SL, Danville Concours d'Elegace

From 1957 to 1963 1,858 Roadsters were built, the example seen here has been in the same family since it was purchased from the used lot of a Chevrolet dealer in 1965.

It is one of less than 50 Roadsters, all built in 1957, to be documented as supplied with Rudge Wheels from the factory.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for sharing today’s photographs, taken a couple of years ago at Danville Concours d’Elegance.

Thanks for joining me on this “Rudge Wheel Roadster” Edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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50 Foot Special – Mercedes Chevy 300SL

Mercedes Chevy 300 SL, Sacramento State Capital C d'E

Back in the 1950’s US Mercedes Benz importer Max Hoffman is credited with encouraging Daimler Benz AG to build the Mercedes 300 SL (W198) based on the successful 1952 Le Mans Winning 300 SL (W194).

Chuck Porter amongst a few other US racing drivers took wrecked 300 SLs and turned them into full blown race cars giving them the ‘SLS’ moniker.

Mercedes Chevy 300 SL, Sacramento State Capital C d'E

The body of today’s car owned by multi championship winning driver and owner Dave Wolin is thought to have possibly started as such a project. The body is said to have been abandoned in a San Gabriel Valley back yard for 50 years after incurring the legal wrath of Daimer Benz AG for being too close a copy of the original.

Mercedes Chevy 300 SL, Sacramento State Capital C d'E

When Dave found the body it had a tree growing in it ! After the body was rejuvenated it was fitted to a modern chassis powered by a Chevrolet small block crate motor. The power is transmitted through a four speed Richmond T 10 gearbox and Speedway Engineering Quick Change rear axle.

Mercedes Chevy 300 SL, Sacramento State Capital C d'E

Dave successfully competes with this cool car in races, hill climbs and surprisingly, given that he modestly calls his Merc a 50 Footer*, also enters his Mercedes into Concours events such as the Sacramento State Capital Concours as seen here.

* Looks good from 50 feet but it’s a racing car not a show car.

My thanks to Geoffrey Horton for the photos, for introducing me to Dave Wolin and to Dave for the additional photos and information about this ultra cool 300 SL.

I hope you have enjoyed todays Gull Wing edition of ‘Gettin a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and that you will join me again tomorrow for a trip to the Donnington Park Museum. Don’t forget to come back now !

PS Recommend aficionados of the 1930’s era Silver Arrow’s visit my friend Paul Chenard’s blog about his limited edition book ‘Silver Clouds‘ on the 1934 season.

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