An Up-Close Look at the 1952 Mercedes-Benz W194 

These days, Mercedes-Benz are known for monstrously powerful engines, particularly in the AMG-badged cars, but even in the early-1950s the Three-Pointed Star’s engines appeared to be no match for those of its rivals.

Its new 300SL racing car used the M194 straight-six engine. Derived from the four-door 300 Adenauer’s power unit, it was upgraded to 300S specification with triple two-barrel Solex carbs, and mounted at a 50° angle to the left in order to fit under the car’s super-low bonnet line. It also featured a novel diagonal aluminium cylinder head; it was just about good for 175bhp.

However, rival cars from Ferrari and Jaguar had much more. So, in a bid to level the field, engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut paid close attention to aerodynamics and ease of driving. The use of an innovative spaceframe chassis did not allow for normal doors, so top-hinged ‘gullwing’ doors were used instead. Swooping bodywork allowed the car to speed to victory on high-speed open road races in 1952, such as the Bern-Bremgarten and Carrera Panamericana, as well as the Eifelrennen at the Nürburgring; it also notched up a second-place finish at the Mille Miglia.

However, the crowning achievement had to be victory at the 1952 Le Mans 24 Hours – with this very car, pictured at Concours of Elegance 2023, one of three entered into the event. To help the car last the full 24 hours, Mercedes-Benz detuned the engine to 165bhp. Even this, failed to stop Hermann Lang from setting the unofficial top speed along the three-mile Mulsanne Straight at 150mph. He’d also set the fastest lap at 4m40s, a full 20 seconds faster than the official time set 12 months prior.

For much of the race French hopes were high – the Ferrari and Jaguar challenge dwindled, leaving first a Gordini, and then after that car’s brakes failed, a Talbot, out in front.

Mercedes-Benz had their own problems. The lead car retired during the night with a broken alternator, while Sunday morning’s thick fog forced the Mercedes drivers to open their gullwing doors to see where they were going.

However, with little more than an hour to go, Pierre Levegh’s Talbot was out, leaving Hermann Lang and Fritz Riess to take the win for Mercedes-Benz – the first for a German manufacturer, and the first for a closed-bodied car.

The sister car of Theo Helfrich and Helmut Niedermayr finished second. Following the race, Lang would take the car to another victory on the 1000km of Nürburgring. It was later used as a practice car for the Carrera Panamericana.