Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Rolling Chassis, Exploded Display

The 300 SLR was the Mercedes-Benz sports racing car for 1955, and under its body it was essentially the W196 R Grand Prix car adapted for long-distance racing. The straight-eight engine grew to 3.0 litres but kept the Grand Prix car's desmodromic valve gear and direct fuel injection, and it sat laid over at an angle in a frame of thin steel tubes. In its single season the car won the Mille Miglia, where Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson finished first in car 722, and carried Mercedes-Benz to the 1955 World Sportscar Championship. Mercedes-Benz then withdrew from racing.

This piece shows the car with its body taken away and the chassis drawn apart into three sections, each held in mid-air by fine steel wires under a clear acrylic canopy on four chrome posts. The front section carries the radiator, front suspension and straight-eight, down to its fuel lines and braided leads. The middle section is the bulkhead, with the steering column and a four-spoke steering wheel with a wooden rim. At the back are the silver fuel tank with its filler cap and headrest fairing, and the rear axle. All four wheels are wire-spoked, with three-eared spinners and Continental Racing tyres. The mirrored floor, engraved with the Mercedes-Benz script and laurel-wreath emblem, shows the underside of each section, and the display sits in a walnut frame. The chassis is CMC's 1:18 diecast of the 1955 car, set in a display made by hand, 45 by 25 by 20 cm.