Sauber Mercedes C9

The Sauber C9 (later named the Mercedes-Benz C9) was a Group C prototype race car introduced in 1987 as a continuation of the partnership between Sauber as a constructor and Mercedes-Benz as an engine builder for the World Sportscar Championship. The C9 replaced the previous Sauber C8.

For its initial season in 1987, the cars were run by Kouros Racing, named for after the aftershave brand of its sponsor, although officially backed by Mercedes-Benz. The team managed a mere twelfth in the teams standings, scoring points in only a single round. For 1988, Kouros was dropped as a sponsor, forcing the team to be renamed Sauber Mercedes. As a result, Mercedes involved one of its company AEG-Olympia for sponsor. However, they managed to finish second in the championship behind Jaguar, with five wins for the season. Unfortunately at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the team suffered an embarrassing setback when they were forced to withdraw due to concern over their Michelin tires.

Finally, in 1989, the car was able to achieve great success. Beside replacing the black color scheme for its national plain silver scheme, reducing AEG as a minor sponsor, the older Mercedes-Benz M117 5.0L turbocharged V8 engine was upgraded to the M119, which replaced steel heads with new aluminium. The C9 was able to win all but one race in the 1989 season, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. During qualifying for Le Mans, the C9 recorded a speed of 247mph while on the Mulsannes Straight, an achievement which eventually led to the installation of chicanes on the Mulsannes. Mercedes driver Jean-Louis Schlesser would end up taking the driver's championship that season.

The C9 would be replaced by the Mercedes-Benz C11 for 1990.

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Mercedes-Benz C111

The C111 was a series of experimental automobiles produced by Mercedes-Benz in the 1960s and 1970s. The company was experimenting with new engine technologies, including Wankel engines, Diesel engines, and turbochargers, and used the basic C111 platform as a testbed. Other experimental features included gullwing doors and a luxurious interior with leather trim and air conditioning.

The first version of the C111 was completed in 1969. It used a fiberglass body shell and had a three-rotor fuel injected Wankel engine mounted in the middle. The next C111 appeared in 1970. It used a four-rotor engine producing 370 hp (275 kW). The car could reportedly hit 180 mph (290 km/h).

The company decided not to adopt the Wankel engine and turned to Diesel experiments for the third C111. With its 230HP@ 4,400-4,600 5-speed manual straight-5 turbo-Diesel, the C111 broke nine diesel and gas speed records. With more aerodynamic bodywork that gave it an air drag coefficient of an incredible .191, the C111 eventually hit 200 mph (322 km/h) at Nardò in 1978, and averaged 14.7mpg@ 195.4 mi (316 km) over a 12 hour cruise. A later 500 hp (372 kW) 4.8 L twin KKK-turbocharged V8 version set another record, with an average lap-speed of 250.958 mph (403.78 km/h). It was achieved by Dr. Hans Leibold in 1 minute, 56.67 seconds on May 5, 1979.

Mercedes-Benz introduced a C112 at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1991 as a production supercar. It used a 6.0 L V12 engine mounted in the middle. But after accepting 700 deposits, the company decided not to proceed with production.

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Mercedes F1 W196

The Mercedes-Benz W196 was the Formula 1 entry of Mercedes-Benz in the 1954 and 1955 Formula One season, winning 9 of 12 races at the hands of Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss.

Its delayed debut on the 1954 French Grand Prix brought the streamlined "Typ Monza" body for the high speed track at Reims-Gueux (and later Monza), and scored a 1-2 victory with Fangio and Karl Kling plus a fastest lap with youngster Hans Herrmann.

As the streamlined body was not situable for twistier tracks, causing a defeat at its second race at Silverstone, a proper open-wheel-version was introduced at the Nürburgring. Fangio, who had already won the first two GPs of 1954 with a Maserati, won this and the two following GPs, securing his 2nd World Championship.

In the 1955 Formula One season, the Mercedes managed to win all but one race, the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix, were Hans Herrmann crashed in practice, and the other 3 cars did not finish. For sportscar races of the 1955 World Sportscar Championship season, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR was derived from it.

After winning all world championships it competed in, Alfred Neubauer retired the cars at the end of the 1955 season.

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Mercedes CLK GTR

The Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR was intended to enter in the 1997 FIA GT Championship sportscar racing world championship series, known as BPR Series up to 1996. To be allowed to do so, 25 cars had to be built for the GT1 class. Porsche 911 GT1, McLaren F1, Ferrari F40 and others were already competing there, Nissan R390 GT1 and Toyota GT-One joined in later, at the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans.

After the CLK GTR won all World Championships titles it competed for in 1997 and 1998, the GT1 class was cancelled as no competitor showed up for 1999. In that year, the required road cars were finally delivered.

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And the stunning CLK-GTR Le Mans Flip:

Mercedes-Benz F400

Mercedes SL55 AMG

The SL55 AMG was sold through AMG in the R129 bodystyle from 1998 to 2001 in limited quantity. It was the predecessor of the production R230 SL55 AMG sold today. Only about 300 cars in the SL-class were customized by AMG prior to 2003.

As the new millennium approached, the SL was a decade old and customers were turning to more modern cars like the Jaguar XK8.

In 2001, an all-new SL (initially just a 5.0 L SL500 version) went on sale, boasting the "Vario-Roof", an electric folding steel roof which had been seen on the smaller, cheaper SLK in 1997. A 5.0 L 302 hp (225 kW) V8 was optional, with a 5.5 L AMG V8 appearing in 2004's SL55 AMG. V12 engines are available in the SL600 and the limited-production SL65 AMG.

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Mercedes Benz 300SL "Alas de Gaviota"

The Mercedes-Benz 300SL is a two-seat, closed sports car with characteristic gull-wing doors, and later, offered as an open roadster.

Built by Daimler-Benz AG and internally numbered W198, the road version of 1952 was based (somewhat loosely) on the company's highly successful competition-only sports car of 1950, the Mercedes-Benz 300SL (W194) which had less power, as it still had carburetors.

This model was suggested by Max Hoffman. Because it was intended for customers whose preferences were reported to Hoffman by dealers he supplied in the booming, post-war American market, it was introduced at the 1954 New York Auto Show—unlike previous models introduced at either the Frankfurt or Geneva shows. The 300SL was best known for both its distinctive gullwing or butterfly wing doors and for being the first-ever gasoline-powered car equipped with fuel injection directly into the combustion chamber. The gullwing version was available from March 1955 to 1957. In Mercedes-Benz fashion, the "300" referred to the engine's cylinder displacement, in this case, three liters. The "SL", as applied to a roadster, stood for "Sport Leicht" or "Sport Light."

More widely produced (25,881 units) and starting in 1954 was the similar looking 190SL with a 105hp 4cyl engine, available only as roadster (or with an additional hardtop, as Coupe Roadster). The 190SL was equivalent to today's SLK in its market positioning when compared to the SL. Production for both the 190SL and 300SL ended in 1963 when the 230SL was introduced.

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McLaren Mercedes SLR

The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren is a sports car and supercar automobile co-developed by DaimlerChrysler and McLaren Cars. It is the fastest automatic transmission car in the world. It is assembled at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England. Most people presume "SLR" to stand for "Sportlich, Leicht, Rennsport" (German for "Sport; Light; Racing"), while it actually means "super-leicht, Rennsport" (super-light, racing). The car's base price is €443,066 £300,000 or $450,000 (see today's $/£/€ parity) [2].

A new version was introduced in 2006 called the "2007 Mercedes-Benz SLR 722 Edition". The "722" refers to the victory by Stirling Moss and his co-driver Denis Jenkinson in a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR with the starting number 722 (indicating a start time of 7:22 a.m.) at the Mille Miglia in 1955. The "722 Edition" creates 650 bhp, with a top speed of 337 km/h (3 more than the standard SLR). Countering the problems from the previous, a new suspension is used with 19-inch light-alloy wheels, a stiffer damper configuration and 0.4 inches lower body. The SLR is planned to end production in 2008, according to Mercedes-Benz.

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