What have all those Mercedes-Benz racing engineers been doing since Mercedes-Benz got out of racing?

When Mercedes-Benz brought its racing program to a close in 1955, the Racing Car Department section at Stuttgart-Untertukheim kept right on working.

Only the sign on the door was changed. The company had proved its point by winning two world titles in two successive seasons. So Racing Car Development rejoined Passenger Car Development. The same engineering brains that had devised the invincible W-196 and 300SLR returned to devising automobiles for everyday use.

That competition experience helped. Instead of vanishing into some dark back room, many prime features from racing machines – from fuel injection to overhead camshafts to rear swing-axle suspensions – soon turned up in production models, suitably modified, as standard equipment.

The engineers continued to insist on racing tolerances for many vital components once the cars reached production. (For example, engine bearings are still machined down to four 10,000ths of an inch.)

And when the rolled off the line, the testing section insisted on judging the handling and braking and high-speed stability of family sedans by the same harsh standards they had used to judge racing cars.

The end result of all this engineering skill is a series of automobiles every bit as invincible in their sphere as the racings were in theirs. Cars built to be efficient, without frivolity or fat.

Drive a Mercedes-Benz soon. It’s the best and the quickest way to find what those Mercedes-Benz racing engineers have been doing since Mercedes-Benz got out of racing. You’ll find they’ve been doing quite a lot.

Many of the legendary racing machines that have won more than 4,400 victories for Mercedes-Benz now stand in the Daimler-Benz Museum in Stuttgart-Unterturkheim, West Germany. Many of the features they pioneered can now be found on Mercedes-Benz passenger cars.

The post Ad of the week: Mercedes-Benz racing engineers appeared first on .

I just saw an interesting story of a 250SE coupe in America that has always been used as a daily driver, is kept in great condition, and now has over 1,000,000 miles on it.     My 250SE, which was used as a daily driver until the 90s has almost 300,000 miles on it, which compared to this car is only scratching the surface of what these cars are capable of. (like the car in the URL, I also have the high mileage award, but at the 250,000 level. I am still about 60,000km from the 500,000 level).

I use my 450SLC as a ‘daily driver’ although I ride the bus to work.   Having said that, one of the cars at the time I considered as a 280SE 3.5 sedan. In the end I went for the SLC because I wanted the Coupe, but not because I didn’t think the W108 could not do the job.

Probably with the exception of some of the smaller engined diesel cars, the Mercedes range from the 60’s can keep up with modern traffic, is nice to drive, offers ‘modern’ safety features like disc brakes, crumple zones and so on.   These cars are well designed and put together and with the proper maintenance can be used every day.    Sure it might not be as reliable as a corolla, but who wants to drive a corolla every day?

It is also great to see these cars on the road on a regular basis.   In my view, there is nothing worse than Classic cars that end up as garage queens.

The post Old Benz as a daily driver? appeared first on .