Such an idea could not have been thought of by someone who is not obsessed with perfection, nor could s/he have had seen it to completion, unlike at Mercedes Benz. Design a hauler that has to cart a racing car to various racing events spread over Europe, and make it beautiful, fast and, in a word, the best one. But what could have been the reason for this company to put in such long hours of designing and production of something that was not of any commercial worth? Wasn't it possible to simple use a van that was large enough?

The story of the making of the transporter is one of pride, zeal, and practicality. There was extreme rivalry going on between Mercedes Benz and the other German racing teams in the days preceding the First World War. But when Mercedes came out with the W-154 that was powered by the V-12, it won 12 out of 17 events trailing up to the war, and was the unambiguous victor. In 1952, the Mercedes management decided to re-enter the world of Grand Prix racing, and this was a reality starting from the season of 1954.

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 carrier was to be such that it was other any of its type, and easily recognized on the road as a Mercedes product. They also wanted it to be the one of the fastest vehicles on the roads of Western Europe.

When you reached the tracks in advance you gained more time for run-throughs and other preparations. It also meant that repairs in the plants could be done comfortably and the racer could be back at the tracks in time. From a mechanical viewpoint, the haulier had been incorporated with the best of Benz technology. The 3.0 liter, 6-cylinder engine from the 300 SL models was incorporated as was their four speed manual transmission, but the frame was derived from the X-shape of the 300 S sedan. The brakes on every wheel were based on the system of power-assisted hydraulic drums.

However, by far the transporter's most unusual feature was its breathtaking bodywork. Most of the steel panels used were either founded on, or modified forms of, panels that were popular at the 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. Between its two fenders, the one up front and the one in the rear, there was enough space for two spare tires, loading ramps, tools and all the equipment for the racer.

The cab was positioned way too much in the front, far ahead of the front axle, and that too precariously low, but it looked distinctively Mercedes. The factory blue paint job as the finishing touch made this vehicle more than the regular one-year successes on the roads. 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.

The transporter was rolled out in 1954, sometime around June, and was an immediate success in Europe and, across the Atlantic, in the U.S. The truth was that at times, the transporter was more the topic of discussion than the racing cars it carried. Subsequent to the calamity at the 1955 French 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, wherein a Mercedes Benz 300 SLR, being privately entered, crashed and took the lives of 80 people, Mercedes Benz stayed away from racing altogether. Before the year was out, the whole racing division was closed, including the transporter.

Even the idea of trying and preserving the transporter in the company's museum didn't work because the floors could not bear the weight of the total payload. Keeping in mind the number of requests and appeals that followed its demise, Mercedes Benz chose to create a replica in 1993. With the assistance of a few draft plans, an outside fabricator, and a few photographs, the company came out with the replica in 2000. A momentary and yet so grand aspect of racing history of the Mercedes Benz has been incredibly revitalized for the amazement of old and young alike.

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