Technical characteristics

Exemplary produced: 1858 - between 1957 and 1963
No. of cylinders: 6 in line
Displacement: 2,996 cm3
Diameter x stroke: 85 x 88 mm
Compression ratio: 8.5: 1
Distribution: overhead camshaft
Power supply: Bosch mechanical injection
Electrical system: 12 V
Lubrication: dry crankcase - forced circulation
Gearbox: 4 gears and recoil
Clutch: dry monodisco
Chassis: structure of steel pipes
Brakes: servo-assisted hydraulic
Wheelbase: 2400 mm
Length / width / height: 4570 mm / 1790 mm / 1300 mm
Trail: front 1398 mm / rear 1448 mm
Tires: 6.50 x 15 of competition.
Weight: 1330 Kg (removable hard roof 40 kg)
Power: 215 HP at 5800 RPM
Maximum speed: 220/250 km / h

The Mercedes Benz 300 SL was originally conceived as a race car. Its excellent mechanics, its lightened pipe chassis, its low height and the comfort inside the cabin, mark some salient features of its design.

Mercedes Benz presented it as a model of mass production to an avid public, after having achieved great sports success in 1952 at the Panamericana de México, Le Mans and Nürburgring.

This Mercedes Benz 300SL was received by Juan Manuel Fangio, as a present of the Daimler-Benz A.G. in gratitude for his contribution to the brand and soon became his favorite. This took place in an Exhibition Hall in London.

- "In those two years of racing, the factory gathered more experience about the behavior of a car than in ten years of factory work. The successes were as important as the technical experience they collected and all that made them retire much earlier than we thought when starting with the Formula 1 program ... When we finished the championship there was a meeting in Bonn, where the president of the Republic and they translated his speech to me. He said that the Mercedes Benz had helped the German industry to show that it was again in the lead. Car racing is not just a show, but a complete test bed. "

But, in addition to spectacle and test bench, the car races mean for Juan Manuel Fangio, the most intense memories of his life. Sometimes ungrateful, many other pleasant, beautiful, bright and sometimes even metallic blue, such as the Mercedes Benz 300 SL "roadster" that imposes its presence in the living room of your agency, waiting for the moment to show off at the Balcarce Museum. So this car came to you:

- "Everything started with a certain annoyance. On one of the trips I made to Europe, in 1958, I was invited to visit Monte Carlo. The people of Lancia, for whom I had run in 1954 and won the Panamericana (1953), arranged for a company car with a driver to pick me up at the Nice airport and put myself at my disposal. I walked through Monte Carlo, and when I finished with my obligations there, I left for Germany with Lancia. When I arrived they were surprised that I was with that car and not with a Mercedes Benz. I explained that when I arrived in Nice I found that they had put that car at my disposal:

-Yes, but we could have done it too- they said.

-Yes, but they did not, - I told them.

Then, that same year, while I was in Europe, I was invited to attend the London Motor Show, to the presentation of the 'roadster' 300 SL in its 'hard-top' version. Until then it had been sold (since the launch of that model, at the end of 1956) as a convertible. While I was there, a telegram arrived from Germany informing me that the car that was on display was for me. It was the gift of my 47 years.

I used it in Europe until '60, when I brought it to the country, during the government of Dr. Frondizi. It was entered as a trophy. Now the roadster Mercedes Benz metallic blue shines on the black rubber floor of another showroom. A tangible piece of friendship, admiration, and affection that two stars shine together since 1951.

"... I remember that we had gone to the aeroclub to load 80 liters of naphtha because there was still no special gasoline sold in the pumps of the gas stations ... the first one that sold special naphtha in the pump, in the country, I went I, at the Bernardo de Irigoyen service station, remember that I went to YPF to see the same inspector who had told me to open my first service station in Balcarce. that it was going to change the North American car market for the European one, the test was a success, and from there YPF began to place special gasoline sales stations in all the stations ... "

By donation, since 1986 it belongs to the Museum of Motoring "Juan Manuel Fangio".