Some years ago, before I got involved with ViaRETRO, I managed to fit in a visit to the Porsche Museum and Mercedes-Benz Museums in Stuttgart – they’re about 20 minutes apart – on the same memorable day, and ever since then have been hankering for a chance to see them both again. I didn’t get around to visiting both this time, but I did get to go to the Benz Museum again and was reminded once more what a fabulous collection the company has put together in what is a superb display in honour of their storied history.
Mercedes-Benz and Daimler-Benz are of course among the oldest names in motoring history, not least responsible for what most would acknowledge to be the first petrol-engined car, the three-wheeled Benz Patent Motorcar of 1886. Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, given that at the time, probably no-one knew just how significant a development this was going to be, so the vehicle was probably scrapped, only a replica of this was on display – indeed, the very early Daimler-Benz vehicles are represented by replicas, such as the first motorcycle (actually called the Riding Car), but as you are led through the collection, the genuine articles showing the rapid progress made by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz (mirrored, it has to be said, in other parts of the world) through the early twentieth century is astonishing.
The oldest genuine Mercedes in existence is the 1902 Mercedes-Simplex 40hp, displayed near to the 1905 18PS Doppelphaeton and the huge 1908 75PS Doppelphaeton – meaning two rows of seats – and the progress is clear to see; more power, more comfort, more performance, and in the case of the latter two, more size.
As you walk down through the display areas, there’s a pictorial history lesson on the wall to your left, adding context to the cars in each section – not necessarily chronologically displayed but in some cases by type e.g. a section dedicated to SL models, Mercedes with celebrity links, or to the company’s immense motorsport heritage.
It’s as you reach the 1920’s and 1930’s that you come across some of the most fabulous motorcars ever built, with the absolutely glorious red 1936 500K Spezial-Roadster. It was fast – 160kmh top speed, expensive, and elegant – I mean, just look at it! This extraordinary car shares display space with some almost as incredible machines such as a white 1928 SSK roadster with a top speed of 192kmh. a black 1937 770 “Grosser” and 540K Cabriolet from the same year. This section of the museum was really quite something.
Moving on, there’s an area dedicated to some of Mercedes-Benz’s special vehicles, and perhaps the one of most interest to ViaRETRO readers – well, to me, anyway – was the 1955 Rennwagen-Schnelltransporter, complete with 300SLR Rennwagen on the back. The Schnelltransporter – so-called because it was itself capable of up to 170kmh – has had to be recreated, but the car on the back is the real deal, displayed with it’s astounding racing history on it’s side.
Staying with the 1950’s, a gorgeous metallic green 1954 300S Cabriolet A, a red 300 ”Adenauer”, a stunning 300SL Roadster – also in red – and a humble 180 Ponton share space with the other example of what recently became the world’s most expensive car, the 1955 300SLR “Uhlenhaut” coupé. Whether it’s worth the €135m paid for it is a discussion for another time, but it is indisputably fabulous – that word again – but it is most definitely applicable to this car.
Down another storey, there’s the extraordinary one-off 1960 300 “Messwagen”, or Measuring Car, used to collect data via long cables attached to whatever model was being tested at the time – modern Bluetooth technology makes such cables unnecessary now, but imagine the skill required of the driver to be able to follow the vehicle in front closely enough at speed while connected by cable to enable the measurements to be taken. Here it was connected to a Fintail.
Further on, in the “Celebrity” section, cars owned or run by famous people include a number of Mercedes’ largest cars – not least the mighty 600 Grosser Pullman state limousine, as well as some of it’s predecessors including a 1935 770 delivered to the Japanese Emperor Hirohito, the sixth and last 300 “Adenauer” used by the Chancellor himself, and an unrestored 1959 190SL that was owned for 45 years by David Randolph Scott, the seventh man to walk on the moon, which he did as part of the Apollo 15 mission in 1971.
The section dedicated to Mercedes SL – Sport Leicht – models contains some of their most beautiful cars, including a series of 300SLs starting with the 1952 W194, behind it, a 300SL Gullwing, an elegant 190SL Roadster, a 300SL Roadster in a blue that I’ve never seen on one of these before, and of course the more familiar yet still ever-desirable Pagoda and W107. For me, no manufacturer made a series of more beautiful sports cars, or sports tourers if you prefer, since they’re not out-and-out sports cars in the way a Lotus Elan or Porsche 911 was.
We’ll pass over the section dedicated to the company’s more modern output and head into the motorsport area, which is just stunning. Laid out on a banked “track”, it shows a history of the company’s forays – mostly very successful – into motor racing of various kinds, up to their dominant recent F1 years.
The earliest pre-Mercedes brand racing cars on show date from 1900 – a Benz 14PS Rennwagen (literally “race car”) and a Daimler “Phoenix” 23PS Rennwagen, followed by the 1909 “Blitzen-Benz” with 200PS – this car reached 228kmh in 1911, making it the fastest vehicle of any kind on the planet at the time. The 1924 Targa Florio-winning 2-litre bridges the gap to the original “Silver Arrows” of the 1930s, which competed against the equally glorious Auto Unions of the era.
At the head of this display is a marvellous trio of Mercedes sports racers, with the iconic 722 in the centre, piloted to victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia by Stirling Moss with his co-driver Denis Jenkinson – later of Motorsport magazine – in a year that saw Mercedes win the World Championships for both the sports car and Grand Prix categories. On one side, the 1955 W196 streamlined GP car driven to victory in the GP of Italy that same year, and on the other, the 1952 300SL gullwing that won the Carrera Panamericana that same year. I must have walked up and down this line of cars half a dozen times, it’s so well done, and so impactful.
Finally we come to some of Mercedes’ prototypes and world land speed cars – the most recognizable is probably the C111 from 1970, which still looks modern today. Across from it, the massive, and very dramatic 1938 (!) W125 which Rudolf Caracciola drove at 432.7kmh/269mph on the motorway between Darmstadt and Frankfurt, the highest speed reached on public roads for the next 80 years.
The Mercedes Benz Museum is a citadel to the company’s past, one it pays proper respect to and it’s a tremendous place to spend half a day. There’s the usual café and restaurant, and a shop – but of course. The cost of entry is just €10 or, if you’re an old git like me, €5 – an absolute steal. If you haven’t been before and find yourself in Stuttgart with a few hours to spare, it’s a must-visit.
