Mercedes-Benz W154, Silver

For 1938 the rules changed: supercharged engines were limited to three litres, and Mercedes replied with an entirely new car. Designed by a team under Rudolf Uhlenhaut, with Max Sailer, Albert Heess and Max Wagner, the W154 used a three-litre V12 with two superchargers, and it sat lower than any Mercedes racing car before it: the engine was slightly offset and the transmission tunnel ran beside the driver's seat rather than beneath it. It carried no starter motor; an external starter was used. The car won three of the four championship Grands Prix of 1938, beginning with a one-two-three at Reims in July for Manfred von Brauchitsch, Rudolf Caracciola and Hermann Lang, and Caracciola took the European Championship. With its 1939 development, the W154 won 23 races in all.

CMC presents it plainly, without race numbers, as a study of the car itself. The louvred bonnet lifts away to show the V12 and its pipework, the stainless-steel radiator grille is made by hand, and the driver's seat is covered in blue fabric. A wood-rimmed wheel sits behind a small aero screen and mirror, and the removable wire wheels are built with hand-mounted spokes. The long tail and low scuttle give the car its purposeful profile. CMC builds it at 1:18, from more than 530 parts.