Known as the African Alloy, a world-famous 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing with a lightweight alloy body will take a...
The 1,000th Mercedes-Benz 300 SL “Gullwing” rolls off the production line, in the Sindelfingen plant, in December 1955, a little...
There are a number of cars that are better known by their nicknames, than their original designation, like the Alfa Romeo Montreal, or the Ferrari Daytona. But probably the most iconic and well-known nickname is Mercedes’ Gullwing. The 300SL was a road car based on Mercedes’ 1952 W194 racecar. The...
After rising from the ashes of postwar Europe, Mercedes-Benz returned to racing in 1952, winning the World Sports Car Championship...
The New York City Concours (TNYCC) has crowned its first champion – Nat Lanza’s 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing won the...
The Dawn of the Modern Super Car If you haven’t been behind the wheel of a brand new supercar recently, chances are you will find things have changed. Radically changed. Modern sports cars are loaded with astonishing technology. Highly refined drive mechanisms, computer controlled power delivery, sophisticated engine management, precision...
From gas station owner in 1954 to leading Le Mans in 1967, sports car racer Scooter Patrick enjoyed an amazing...
2 Johnny Rutherford, driving a McLaren-Offenhauser, wins the USAC Indycar race at Trenton, New Jersey (1976). 3 The Mercedes-Benz W194...
A 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Sport Cabriolet A was selected as Best of Show at the second annual Arizona Concours d’Elegance, held Sunday, January 11, at the Arizona Biltmore Resort. Owned by Thomas Taffet of Chatsworth, California, the Mercedes, which also topped the European Classic group, was entered by the...
An image of the dirty and pitted Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing practice car used for pre-race reconnaisance, prior to the 1955...
In remembering and memorializing John Fitch upon the occasion of his death, Vintage Racecar has produced this brief photographic summary...
Malcolm Bricklin has more balls than a Christmas tree. Charismatic and effervescent, his personality bubbles over with enthusiasm for his next project, sometimes at the cost of his present project. Jonathan Bricklin, Malcolm’s son said it best: “My father started 30 companies and about half of them made it.” His...
The story of the production model 300 SL really picks up where our story about the W194 Le Mans racecar...
Like most German industrial companies, World War II left much of Mercedes-Benz’s Stuttgart factory in ruins. However, with time Mercedes...
Like so many great automobiles of our time, the Mercedes-Benz SL series can trace its origins directly to the racetrack. With the rebuilding and recovery of Europe ongoing six years after the end of World War II, Mercedes competition boss Alfred Neubauer was told that the resources for a resumption...
As you’ll see, throughout both sides of the magazine, this month we recognize and celebrate the 60th anniversary of Mercedes-Benz’s...
Sixty years ago was when—for me—the world became modern. Many people will laugh at that; some will understand but have a different date in mind; maybe a few will feel as I do. The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing coupe is—for me—the first GT car of our contemporary era. Not that...
Billed as the United Kingdom’s answer to Pebble Beach, a display of historic motor cars from around the world will...
Here’s yet another source for rare, hand-held video of the old days as shot by those who were there. Courtesy...
Two months before the end of WWII, an American P-51 Mustang was shot down over Germany. The pilot was Captain John Fitch and he spent the rest of the war as a POW. Ten years later, that same John Fitch teamed up with a German co-driver to drive a German...
A racing friend of mine was recently lamenting the fact that he was turning 50 this year. “I think you’re...
