Slideshow for Mercedes-Benz Museum

The Mercedes-Benz Museum Date: 11/26/2009

The Mercedes-Benz Museum Date: 11/27/2009

Mercedes Simplex 40hp, 1902 Date: 11/27/2009 This 40 hp Mercedes-Simplex is the oldest Mercedes still in existence. It was the direct successor to the 35 hp Mercedes designed by Wilhelm Maybach, which was the world’s first automobile of the modern age. The addition of the word "Simplex" related to the relative ease with which it handled for the period.

Cylinders: 4
Displacement: 414 cu in
Output: 40 hp (29 kW)
at engine speed: 1100/min
Top speed: 50 mph

Mercedes Simplex 60hp, 1904 Date: 11/27/2009 The 60 hp Mercedes-Simplex became the top-of-the-range Mercedes. As Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft´s most powerful automobile, it was also successful in motor racing, although as a version with a shorter wheelbase and modified body.
This vehicle was owned by Emil Jellinek, who had the comfortable touring limousine body fitted in 1907.

Cylinders: 4
Displacement: 564 cu in
Output: 60 hp (44 kW)
at engine speed: 1400/min
Top speed: 50 mph

Mercedes-Benz 500 K special roadster, 1936 Date: 11/27/2009 The Mercedes-Benz 500 K was the car of the rich and the beautiful. Together with the representative Grand Mercedes, the elegant 500 K sports car was the brand’s show-piece in the 1930s. Of the eight different bodywork versions of the 500 K, the special roadster was the most appealing, the most elegant and - at a price of 28,000 Reichsmark (roughly equivalent to 98000 EUR) - the most expensive.

Cylinders: 8
Displacement: 306 cu in
Output: 100 hp (74 kW)
at engine speed: 3400/min
Top speed: 100 mph
Production period: 1934-1936
Units produced: 342

Mercedes-Benz 300 SL coupe, 1955 Date: 11/27/2009 The 300 SL production sports car presented in 1954 was based on the successful competition version of 1952. Its space frame weighed only 110 lbs. and was particularly sturdy, but did not permit the fitting of normal doors because of the high frame side members. With its characteristic upward-opening doors, the dream car of the 1950s popularly became known as the Gullwing.

Cylinders: 6
Displacement: 183 cu in
Output: 215 hp (158 kW)
at engine speed: 5800/min
Top speed: 155 mph
Production period: 1954-1957
Units produced: 1400

Mercedes-Benz 300 SL roadster, 1962 Date: 11/27/2009 In 1957 the legendary Gullwing was succeeded by the roadster version of the 300 SL. The open sports car - long wished-for mainly by the American clientele - came with regular doors, made possible by a revised space frame with lower frame side members. The newly fitted single-joint swing axle made the high-performance sports car easy to handle even for less experienced drivers.

Cylinders: 6
Displacement: 183 cu in
Output: 215 hp (158 kW)
at engine speed: 5800/min
Top speed: 155 mph
Production period: 1957-1963
Units produced: 1858

Silver Arrows Silver Arrows Date: 11/27/2009

Mercedes-Benz streamline racing car, 1955 Date: 11/27/2009 Mercedes-Benz made its return to Grand Prix racing with the streamlined W 196 R. Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling powered to a 1-2 victory in the new Formula One car's first race on July 4, 1954 in Reims, and Fangio finished the season as world champion. The Argentinean piloted an improved version of the streamlined car to victory in the 1955 Italian Grand Prix and went on to retain the world title.

Cylinders: 8
Displacement: 152 cu in
Output: 290 hp (213 kW)
at engine speed: 8500/min
Top speed: 190 mph

Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Racing Sports Car, 1955 Date: 11/27/2009 Stirling Moss and his navigator Denis Jenkinson piloted this 300 SLR to victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia in a record time which has remained unbeaten to this day. The cars left the start line in Brescia at one-minute intervals - car number 722 stood for the start time of 7:22 a.m. The success of the 300 SLR ensured that Mercedes-Benz would have the 1955 sports-car world championship title to add to its triumph in Formula One.

Cylinders: 8
Displacement: 182 cu in
Output: 302 hp (222 kW)
at engine speed: 7500/min
Top speed: 186 mph

Date: 11/27/2009

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