This idea is worthy only of the perfectionist minds at Mercedes Benz, for it is not possible that anyone else think this up, let alone see it to its conclusion. To carry a racing car to events being held around Europe, make a transporter that is attractive, fast, and one of the best in the world. Why ever did the company spend so much funds and devote so many hours to design a vehicle that was so visibly non-commercial? Why didn’t they use a basic van?

The tale of the making of the transporter is one of dignity, zeal, and common sense. Mercedes Benz had been in the midst of a severe competition with other German teams in the racing scene before World War I. But Mercedes? W-154 power-driven by the V-12 won 12 of the 17 events before the war and claimed the number one position out and out. Till 1952, Mercedes had stayed out of Grand Prix racing and returned to the scene only with the start of the 1954 season. More expert mercedez information is located at used mercedes benz.

Mercedes thus built a special carrier for its W-196, a new breed of racing cars to have a celebrated Argentine racer behind its wheels. The transporter had to look different than any other of its kind while being instantly identifiable on the road as being designed by Mercedes. It had to be the fastest of its kind, as well as one of the fastest on the Western European highways.

You got a lot of extra time for prep runs and practice if you managed to get to the racetracks first. It also meant that a damaged racer could be driven to the plant for repairs and returned to action in record time. From a technological viewpoint, Mercedes Benz had installed the transporter with the best of their equipment. The extended X shaped frame was based on the automaker’s full sized 300 S sedan, while the 3.0 liter six cylinder engine and four speed manual transmission were similar to those installed in the automaker’s 300 SL gull wing sports cars. The braking system was one of power-assistance being provided to the regular hydraulic drums that were used.

But the most interesting feature of the transporter was its splendid body work. The majority of the steel panels that were used were based on models that used to be popular at that time. Also, the majority of the interior finishing was improved versions of the ones in the 180 S, as were the doors and the windshield. The space between the two fenders was could accommodate the loading ramp, tools, equipments, and two spare tires without any hassles. Get more information about mercedez by visiting mercedes ml.

Even though the cab had been placed well up front, far past the front axle, and at a very low height, it just added to the daring excellence that Mercedes wanted to boast of in the first place. The clear, definitive, factory blue paint on the final product only added to its instant success. It was a truck that, despite a fully loaded weight of about 6,600 pounds, was capable of more than 100 mph, fast even by today’s standards.

Rolling out sometime in middle 1954, the carrier was an instant sensation at the tracks of the U.S.and Europe. The carrier was likely to pull more crowds at the races than the racers themselves. As a upshot of the misfortune at the 1955 French 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, in which a Mercedes Benz 300 SLR, which was being raced privately, crashed and put to death 80 people, Mercedes Benz retracted from racing completely. The offshoot was that the whole racing division , the transporter included , was taken apart by autumn that year.

Although plans were made to place the vehicle and its precious cargo in the company’s museum, its weight proved too much for the building’s floors and the idea, as well as the transporter itself, was scrapped. After receiving numerous letters and appeals, Mercedes Benz chose to start work on a replica of it in 1993. It was completed in 2000, after working with an outside fabricator, photographs and sketches. This meant that the transporter is now immortalised in the history of Mercedes Benz racing for all those who want to see it.

With the invention of the car came the desire for speed. Cars quickly evolved from practical to sporty to satisfy the desires of those that wanted to race. The first sports cars started to appear at the latter end of the 1940′s. Ferrari, Porche, Lotus and Jaguar all had sporting road car designs. When you bring to mind today’s supercars you think of sleek design, high speed, high power and even higher price tags and the sports cars of the 1940’s were the first steps towards today’s technological wonders. During the 1950′s and early 1960′s sports car performance progressed. 1954 saw the arrival of the Meredes 300 SL Gullwing – the first road car to top 150mph. It was could reach a top speed of 165mph and is now considered to be one of the all time classic road cars. The Gullwing was first shown at the 1954 New York Motor Show and it wowed the public. It has distinctive ‘gull wing’ doors and is made from a lightweight aluminium body. The Gullwing had a 3 litre engine and 240bhp, and in its day was the fastest production car you could get.

1400 Gullwings were built between 1954 and 1957. The design was eventually superceded by the open Roadster. It was Ford that created what many people believe to be the first supercar. Their GT40 made its debut at the Nurburgring in 1964 but it wasn’t until 1966 that Ford took their place in American racing history by finishing Le Mans in the top three positions, beating Ferrari. The GT40 has now won more prestigious races than any other road racing car in history. The Lamborghini Miura made supercar history because it was the first production car to feature a mid-mounted engine (normally only seen on F1 cars). It looked very different to any road car that had come before. The Miura was unveiled to the world in 1965 at the Turin Auto Show by Ferrucio Lamborghini himself and was named after Spanish fighting bulls due to the aggressive body styling. In terms of pure speed, after the 150mph title was claimed, 200 mph was the next great speed target to beat. The prize for that went to the Ferrari F40 – the last car commissioned by Enzo Ferrari and revealed on Ferrari’s 40th birthday. The F40 was available between 1987 and 1992. Its top speed was 201mph and it managed 0-60mph in 3.9 seconds. The F40 is seen by many as the greatest supercar of all. The price of an F40 reached in excess of half a million pounds in the late 1980′s and even now is holding its price well. The SSC Ultimate Aero TT (made by Shelby Supercars) is the world’s fastest production car to date with a top speed of 257mph. The Guiness World record people clocked the car in at 255.8mph. The 2009 version can reach speeds of 270mph and is reported to accelerate from 0-60mph in 2.7 seconds!

Modern technology has allowed the creation of some amazing cars. They have come a long way but are not yet at the peak of design so it remains to be seen how the cars of the future wow us.

For a chance to get behind the wheel of a Lamborghini today you can do a web search for Lamborghini hire Herfordshire, Lamborghini hire London or another geographical type search to find a super car hire place near you.