One essential piece of equipment that doesn't get much exposure from the PR hacks of motorsport teams is the team transporter. Today's transporters look like any other container rig on the road, except perhaps for their coats of flashy paint and graphics.
But in 1955, Mercedes saw the need to transport its racecars quickly between servicing at the factory and bringing the racing car to the track. The one-off Blue Wonder, as it was fondly called, was a combination of the X-tube frame of the 300S (extended to provide cargo space for the race car), the 3-liter straight six engine from the SL Gullwing, which was the first car to be equipped with direct fuel injection, and parts from the 180S car.
Engine placement was above the front axle and output was restricted by 20 horsepower to 195 at 5500 rpm, from the original 215. A combination of hydraulic and disc brakes ensured that the truck/race car combo could slow in a controlled fashion from its top speed of 175 km/h. One wonders about the skill of the truck drivers who made high performance runs to and from the factory. After the withdrawal of Mercedes from racing in 1955, the original Blue Wonder was used as a garbage hauler and finally scrapped in 1967.
It was decided to reconstruct the truck in the early 90s from photos, oral reports and all other available data. Being a one-off, construction plans were missing entirely and it took 6,000 man-hours and 7 years to come up with a replica which most people agree is a faithful reproduction of the original.
Posted by Horsepower Calculator via gmail
race car transporter are indeed a well loved piece especially its from a classy car manufacturer like Mercedes-Benz. To date there are a lot of
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