Ian Many thanks for the link, some of my happiest memories come from the days my dad had the Gullwing (1955 to 1979 and 187,000 miles) ref the photo that went with this quote
"The first win came early in the SL?s career ? at only its second race, in Berne, Switzerland. International success swiftly followed with an incredible win on the gruelling 3,300km Carrera Panamerica in Mexico.
Despite a 220km/h collision with a vulture that smashed the car?s windscreen, driver Karl Kling and co-driver Hans Klenk persevered to score an historic first and paved the way for a legendary family of sports cars. "
the cars were fitted with "buzzard bars" over the windscreens for the rest of the race...
in my case as a small boy when the car was new I would curl up on the parcel/luggage shelf when my parents went for a ride...
Dad,s car had the quick change rear end and though he kept the 3.25 set in for most normal driving he was involved in SCCA racing with it in the 50's ... race setup was bumper and muffler removal fitting of an tail pipe extension (body work prepared from the factory for this and the extension was a part of the quick change rear end option I think) selection of the rear end gear set from the box which held 4 sets between 3.25 to 4.11 changing the tires and filling the tank with 135 octane aviation fuel and adjusting the dash mounted 'octane adjuster' to take advantage of it he did quite well and was New england class champ in I think 1958...
When I was 17 he let me take the car by myself for a day of race watching at Lime Rock for the first race of the year (easter time I think) I came a cropper of a spring running across a reverse camber descending curve (stripe of black ice at dawn)and bent a bit of the rear bodywork in the ensuing spinout... I was not allowed to drive it again until I had covered the cost of the repair from my earnings.... about 3 or 4 months as I recall... he then set it up for me to have a weeks lessons in driving it on the Lime Rock track from a friend of his John Fitch who was the only US member of the early 50s M-Benz Racing Team.... What a wonderful thrill that was learning to four wheel drift it through the esses so you were set up just right for the next straight... etc etc etc.... those lessons have saved my life on several occasions in the last 35 years and I can honestly say I have not been in a crash that was in any way my fault since....
Learn to drive a Gullwing well and you are ready for almost anything any car can dish out at you... they were very unforgiving of any sort of ham handedness when driven above say 8/10
All the best
Randolph Lee
Nantucket Island, U.S.A.
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Liked the image on Lee's page Randolph, nice story to go with it.
David
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Come on Adam, tell the story of last years centrepiece at the Festival of Speed!
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The central display at last years Goodwood Festival of Speed was a 300SL mounted at least 75 foot high, pointing near-vertical downwards, atop a silver plinth (which concealed a crane, of course). VERY spectacular.
Rumour had it that, despite draining all fluids, removing battery etc., someone had forgotten to block the exhaust tailpipes. IT RAINED, HEAVILLY. The private owner apparently got the car back a few days later, filled it all back up, and went to start it. Rainwater had filled at least two cylinders, it hydraulic locked, and bent two con-rods. Embarassed display team, embarassed Mercedes Benz (sponsors of the event and the main display), and car on way to Germany for a FOC engine overhaul.
Moral - don't lend cars for display purposes !!
Regards, Adam
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I am sure it made a fine display but what an outcome for the owner... As sold they had only one pipe about 3" or 4" in size and it came down the right side of the car (looking forward ) made a 90 deg left turn into the huge silencer which was behind the rear bumper and provided some protection to the rather large fuel tank that took up the boot space and then another 90 deg turn aft and out under the bumper... some owners fitted a dash controled Buterfly valve in the 90 deg bend where the pipe entered the silencer and thence out the race position so from the rear these looked as if they had twin pipes...the engine made a wonderful sound when the under dash lever was pulled (VBG)
A fun side note on the Gullwing's silencer was that it was an exact copy of a US WW II 2 1/2 ton truck silencer... made for a cheap replacment item (one of the few).
The full belly pans made for other service problems/costs so my Dad replaced all the fastners with Aircraft Deuzits... reduced the remove/replace time for the full pans by well over an hour...
He also made more access ports in the pans so that things like the laminated camel skin/rubber/camel skin diaphragm in the fiuel injection system (which compesated for alititude/ atmospheric pressure in the mixture and when it failed provided a VERY rich mixture) could be replaced with a few special tools he also designed in just an hour ... a huge reduction from the m-benz 'book time'
He raced on Dunlops as best as I can recall and used Mich-X for the street
A friend of dad's took his stock Gullwing to the salt flats and set the 3 liter stock production record at 162.4 mph (I think... it's been many years) and I was told that the record stood into the 1980s
the Aero package on them was astounding for the time as were the drum brakes... with huge deep mag fins on the outside of the drums for heat disapation (once called the finest drum brakes ever used on a production car ... (I never had fade problems even drivng in mountains of Colorado)
with the 4.11 rear end it would do 0 to 100mph and back to 0 in about 14-15 sec
All the best and thanks again for bringing back these memories
Randolph Lee
Nantucket Island, U.S.A.
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