Mystery Friday Foto #23 Solved: A 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR W196S on top of the Mercedes-Benz “Blue Wonder” hauler
The Walter McCarthy Archives challenged you to solve this weekend's Mystery autos. The photo was originally in the collection of Henry Austin Clark, Jr.
Answers to the Mystery Foto questions:
- Year, make and model of the automobile on the hauler
1955 Mercedes 300 SLR W 196S
- Why was the automobile built?
Built to compete with Ferraris on the sportscar racing circuit.
- Why is the automobile significant in recent news?
The coupe version of the Mercedes 300 SLR sold at auction for $142 million on May 5, 2022- making it the most expensive vehicle ever sold.
Kudo questions: Identify the hauler, its nickname and history. Where is the hauler today?
The 300SL-Powered Blue Wonder. The 1954/1955 original hauler was scrapped in 1967. A replica is currently in the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. Jay Leno also owns another replica made in Sweden.
The X-type tubular frame forming the basis of the vehicle originated from the 300 S model, while the powerful engine came from the 300 SL. The racing transporter’s designers also used parts from the 180 model. The end result was a technically unique vehicle sporting a correspondingly distinctive appearance, with a wheelbase of 3050 mm and a top speed of 99 to 106 mph depending on the payload.
Comments (14)
Congrats and kudos to Gram Spina, David Miller, Frank Femenias, Dick Gorman, Al Prete, Hugh Nutting, Art Kleiner, Eric Cashen, Steve Lucas and Al Velocci for identifying the Mercedes 300 SLR and the Blue Wonder hauler. Great job!
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
Comments
Car make and model :1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR W196 S.
Why it was made: to be bad to the bone and to be raced at Le Mans in 1955 as well as other endurance races that are apart of the 1955 World Sportscar Championship.
This Roadster is one of “brothers” of the hard top 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut coupes that broke the world record for the most expensive car ever to be sold. Beating out the Ferrari gto by A long shot.
As for the transport truck it’s name is “The Blue Wonder” and j-Leno
The vehicle that is being hauled is a 1955 Mercedes Benz 300 SLR. The vehicle was created to demonstrate the power of what Mercedes could do. The vehicle was capable of achieving 186 mph. A 300 SLR competed at Le Mans in 1955 with historically tragic consequences. On lap 35 the Mercedes collided with an Austin Healey, became airborne and crashed into the crowd killing 83 people and injuring over 100. On May 5th 2022, a coupe version of this vehicle (only one of two built) was sold for $142 million. The hauler in the picture is the “Blue wonder”, Mercedes’ race car transporter truck. The original was crushed in 1967 but a replica was built in 2001. It is now displayed at the Mercedes Benz museum in Stuttgart Germany carrying a 300SLR on its back.
The hauler almost appears a Buckminster Fuller design. It’s the 1955 Mercedes Benz Blue Wonder racing car transporter, the fastest in the world.
Summoned by British Colonel Michael McEvoy from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Rudolf Uhlenhaut was tasked to build a small racing car for an officer he once knew pre WWII days.
The same racer on board the transporter is Uhlenhaut’s Mercedes Benz prototype 300SLR coupe (Super Light Racing), the engineer, developer and father of the racer, among other racers.
At retirement in 1972, Uhlenhaut never owned a car and required hearing aid in old age.
Significant because the racer likely has been located and up for sale. It should be preserved as significant improvement in automotive design during the 20th century.
Mystery Foto #23…the race car on the hauler is a 1955 Mercedes 300SLR. This and a few others like it were built for the World Sports Car Championship held back in the mid 20th century. The 300SLR is significant because a sister car to the one shown here, the 300SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe sold at auction recently for $145 million dollars (135 Million Euros) making it the most expensive car ever sold at auction.
The ultra cool hauler is a 1950 Mercedes know as the Blue Wonder. The company only built one and it was destroyed back in1967. However, Mercedes did commission a recreation at a cost of over $2,000,000 which is at the factory museum in Stuttgart.
As a footnote, I was attending the 12 hours of Sebring back in 1959??? and in the days before the race as cars and people gathered at the track, John Fitch was there with one of the Uhlenhaut coupes. It was not entered in the race but simply there to show it off. So I did see it person, Wow, what an amazing car!!!
I meant to send a photo of the 300SLR Uhlenhaut coupe in my earlier response. Here It Is.
The car is a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR. It was built to compete with Ferrari on the sports-car racing circuit. A coupe version of this car recently sold for $143M at auction, making it the most expensive car ever sold.
The hauler is a 1955 Mercedes-Benz transporter, nicknamed the “Blue Wonder.” It was used throughout the ‘55 racing season, but M-B withdrew from competition at the end of the season due to the catastrophic crash at Le Mans that destroyed a 300 SLR and killed its driver.
The original Blue Wonder was scrapped in 1967, but M-B built a replica in 1993. It is currently on display at the Mercedes-Benz Museum. Jay Leno owns another replica built by a Swedish enthusiast.
Hi all
Thought you lost me. Always keeping up with you. I’m somewhat answering this mystery., very easy, give away. The 2.vehicles are Mercedes’~Benz, that’s it.
Stay safe, be well. Ted
1954/55 Mercedes hauler is Blue. Used to haul the #00 SLR team cars. After the 1955 LeMans wreck Mercedes gave this pair to the Ford Museum. Some years later when the Mercedes Factory Museum got going they asked for the truck back, I saw it a number of times at the Sports Car Review show in the Ford Museum
1955 Mercedes-Benz 300-SLR (Sport Light Racing) racer. Built to race in the 1955 World Sportscar Championship.
The coupe version of the 300-SLR was sold on May 5 at a public auction in Germany for $142 million breaking the record of vehicles sold at public auction.
The hauler is the Mercedes Renntransporter, nicknamed the “Silver Arrow Rapid Deployment Team” and prompted as “The Fastest Racing Car Hauler in the World”. Acted as transporter and mobile workshop during racing events.
History: (from “Automotive Evolution.com”)
Built in 1954 as Germany was coming out of its recession after WWII. Aside from racing events, at the end of 1955 it was part of a tour around America to be featured in a number of car shows.
“Thanks to its gathered fame, the original intention was for it to be placed in the old Mercedes-Benz Museum while carrying a 300 SLR, but because the combined weight of the two cars would have exceeded the load-bearing capacity of the building’s floor, the idea was dropped.
After a small stint of doing special jobs which helped the road-testing of prototype cars, the world’s fastest racing car transporter was finally scrapped in December 1967. Since there weren’t any plans available for the vehicle’s construction, its legend remained forgotten until 1993, when Mercedes-Benz Classics decided to rebuild it based on all the classic photos and old information that could be gathered. Expert builders spent almost 6000 hours of work and after seven long years the Renntransporter was finally rebuilt from scratch.
Today: The rebuilt hauler is in the Mercedes-Benz Museum, hauling a 300 SLR for eternity.
The 1955 M-B 300 SLR roadster was built to compete for the 1955 World Sports Car Championship. One of the roadsters was involved in the tragic LeMans disaster in 1955. Daimler-Benz made two road-legal 300 SLR coupés, known today as Uhlenhaut Coupés, named for Rudolf Uhlenhaut, the head of M-B racing, and used by him as personal transport. One of the two surviving Uhlenhaut Coupes recently sold for $142,000,000!
The hauler is the 1954-55 M-B Renntransporter, known as Das blaue Wunder. It could make it’s way down the Autobahn, fully loaded, at 130+ mph, powered by what was, essentially, the same motor as that of the 300 SLR it carried.
P.S.
The hauler is in the M-B museum, although used for traveling exhibits, along with the other Uhlenhaut Coupe..
LeMans 55 crash
Leno probably
even clones are ridiculous prices
That’s a 1955 Mercedes Benz 300-SLR. I believe it was originally built to compete in Formula-1 racing. It is significant today because a 1956 SLR Coupe recently sold for $142 million dollars, making it the most expensive car in the world. The hauler is a 1955 Mercedes Benz Renntransporter built by Mercedes to transport its racers from venue to venue as quickly as possible. It was nicknamed “The Blue Wonder” and was considered the fastest racing car hauler in the world. After Mercedes withdrew from racing, it was ultimately sent to the crusher in 1967. An exact replica was built in 2001 by Mercedes and now resides in the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart, Germany.
The auto is the Mercedes 300 SLR entered in the 1955 Le Mans race driven by Sterling Moss and Juan Fangio. (DNF) The hauler is the Mercedes Renntransporter nicknamed “The Blue Wonder” It was scrapped in the late 1960’s, understand it was recently rebuilt; It was said to have a top speed in excess of 100 MPH. It’s primary purpose was to get back and forth to the race circuits very quickly. While it appears to be a tractor trailer combo, it is not. An unusual feature of the hauler is how far out the cab extends from the front wheels.
I actually saw both of these vehicles in COMMACK about four years ago. I kick myself to this day for not taking a picture of it.
This post is in fact incredible, the picture feature and the video is really awesome. really enjoyed to see these historical pics