Last update: September 17, currently 11 models and 1 watch in this collection
How it began
Mercedes-Benz was one of the leading racing teams before World War II. To preserve weight and stay below the maximum allowed, all white paint was removed. The cars became the nick name “Silberpfeilen” or Silver Arrows. Only 10 years after the war, Mercedes was one of the leading manufacturers again and they kept the silver outfit.
1955 Mille Miglia, Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR. Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson made pace notes like modern rally drivers do. With this strategy they defeated the local Italian favorites with their powerful Ferrari’s. Moss won the Mille Miglia (1000 miles) in a record time of 10 hours and 7 minutes. Fun fact: 722 is their starting time: 7:22 AM.
#722 Stirling Moss (GB) / Denis Jenkinson (GB) – 1st
Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR – 3.0 liter Mercedes-Benz M196S straight-8 approx. 310 hp. Steel space frame, chassisnr. W196S #0004/55
- MINICHAMPS Mercedes-Benz Classic Collection B8 604 0252 (diecast)
- Mercedes-Benz Schnelltransporter | PREMIUM CLASSIXXS 12225 (diecast)
- Watch | Omologato Mille Miglia – 2nd generation #045 / 100 pcs
- Watch | Omologato 722 – 1st generation #004 / 200 pcs
1955 Grand Prix Monza, Mercedes-Benz W196 ‘Stromlinien’. After the Le Mans disaster some Grand Prix were cancelled. Only the last race of the season at Monza took place. Juan-Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss drove the W196 ‘Stromlinien’, the last formula 1 car with covered wheels. They finished first and second on the fast track with the extreme banked corners.
#18 Juan-Manuel Fangio – 1st
Mercedes-Benz W196 Stromlinien – 2.5 liter Mercedes-Benz M196R straight-8, approx. 270 hp. Steel space frame, chassisnr. unknown
- IXO GTM122 (diecast)
- The model is advertised by IXO as the car from Monza, but the #18 at Monza has a white circle as you can see in the pictures above. The version where Fangio raced with a red #18 on silver background is at Reims 1955 (see below).
Here another W196 as seen at the Louwman Museum in The Netherlands in a special exhibition in 2018.
In 1955, the Mercedes SLR off Pierre Levegh crashed at Le Mans. The car, engine and debris flew into the crowd, killing 83 spectators and injured over 100 others. Multiple countries banned motorsports for years and also Mercedes withdrew from racing at the end of the season and their factory supported cars would only return more than 20 years later.
Touring cars
1978 Le Mans 24h, Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC 5.0. AMG entered this impressive silver Mercedes 450 SLC in the European Touring Car Championship in 1978 (picture left). The car had more power than the BMW’s but was a bit heavier and it had a 3 speed automatic gearbox as the 5 speed manual wasn’t homologated. So it never beat BMW in that year. AMG also tried to compete at Le Mans where the car was entered in group 5 with a five-speed gearbox. But it was no match for the Porsche 935 and didn’t even qualify for the race.
#40 Hans Heyer (D) / Clemens Schickentanz (D) – DNQ
Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC – 5.0 liter Mercedes-Benz M117 V8 90º, approx. 380 hp. Steel monocoque, chassisnr. C107 AMG #unknown
- NEO 00045215 (resin)
2004 DTM Championship, Mercedes-Benz C-klasse DTM. The German Touringcar Masters DTM is one of the most popular racingseries in Europe. Mercedes, Opel and Audi compete with topteams and drivers. Young Dutchman Christijan Albers is one of them. He won 1 race and finished 3rd in the championship in 2004 in his factory supported HWA/AMG Mercedes.
#2 Christijan Albers (NL) – 3rd championship
Mercedes-Benz C-klasse DTM – 4.0 liter Mercedes-Benz V8 90º, approx. 470 hp. Steel + Carbon fibre space frame, chassisnr. W203 AMG #unknown
- MINICHAMPS MC400 043402 (diecast)
Group C
1989 Le Mans 24h, Mercedes-Benz C9. Mercedes started supporting the Group C team from Peter Sauber with V8 turbo-engines first. The cars were competitive and Mercedes joined with full works support. The cars turned into ‘Silver Arrows’ and were no longer called Sauber. In 1989 these cars won the 24 hour race of Le Mans and all but one world championship races.
#63 Manuel Reuter (D) / Jochen Mass (D) / Stanley Dickens (S) – 1st
Mercedes-Benz C9 – 5.0 liter Mercedes-Benz M119 HL V8 90º twin turbo, approx. 720 hp. Alumium monocoque, chassisnr. Sauber #C9/88-04
- MAX MODELS 1000 (diecast)
1990 world championship, Mercedes-Benz C11. In 1989, Mercedes competed the entire world championship with the new C11 and won all races but one. That one was for Jaguar and the British also took the 24 hour race of Le Mans which was no part of the world championship. Mercedes took the team’s title, Baldi and Schlesser the driver’s title in the #1 car. The #2 car was driven by the experienced Jochen Mass who was coaching the junior-team Schumacher, Frentzen and Wendlinger who took alternate drives.
#2 Jochen Mass (D) / Michael Schumacher (D) / Heinz-Harald Frentzen (D) / Karl Wendlinger (A) – 2 wins
Mercedes-Benz C11 – 5.0 liter Mercedes-Benz M119 HL V8 90º twin turbo, approx. 730 hp. Carbon fibre monocoque, chassisnr. Sauber #C11-02
- MAX MODELS 1102 (diecast)
1991 Le Mans 24h, Mercedes-Benz C11. In preparation for the new set of rules for Group C, Mercedes-Benz developed a 3.5 liter F1-style V10. The Mercedes C291 that used it was very unreliable. It couldn’t even do 1 lap flat-out at Le Mans without blowing the engine. Just like Jaguar, Mercedes choose to race with the reliable older model. The C11 V8-turbo finished 5th, behind 3 Jaguars and the surprising Mazda rotary.
#31 Michael Schumacher (D) / Heinz-Harald Frentzen (D) / Fritz Kreuzpointer (D) – 5th
Mercedes-Benz C11 – 5.0 liter Mercedes-Benz M119 HL V8 90º twin turbo, approx. 730 hp. Carbon fibre monocoque, chassisnr. Sauber #C11-05
- SPARK S1251 (resin)
1991 Autopolis 300km, Mercedes C291. The new 3.5 liter F1-engined Mercedes C291 was very unreliable. It couldn’t even do 1 lap flat-out at Le Mans without blowing the engine. The last race of the lost season in Japan was surprisingly won bij the Sauber-built Mercedes.
#2 Michael Schumacher (D) / Karl Wendlinger (A) – 1st
Mercedes-Benz C291 – 3.5 liter Mercedes-Benz M291 V12 180°, approx. 650 hp. Carbon fibre monocoque, chassisnr. Sauber #C291/04
- MINICHAMPS Mercedes-Benz Collection B6 604 0239 (diecast)
GT1 / GTP
1997 FIA GT Suzuka 1000 km, Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR. The GT1 category really took off in 1997; McLaren, Porsche, Panoz, Nissan and Mercedes had all created homologation specials. The AMG designed supercar CLK GTR dominated the second half of the FIA GT World championship. Mercedes took the title and Bernd Schneider in the #11 did the same at the drivers table. Klaus Ludwig was his teammate at several locations, but at Suzuka Klaus drove together with Bernd Mayländer.
#12 Bernd Mayländer (S) / Klaus Ludwig (D) – 2nd
Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR – 6.0 liter Mercedes-Benz GT112 V12 60º, approx. 600 hp. Carbon fibre monocoque, chassisnr. AMG #001
- MAISTO 31503 (diecast)
1998 Le Mans 24h, Mercedes-Benz CLK-LM. The AMG designed supercar Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR dominated the FIA GT World championship with a V12 engine. The Le Mans (GTR-LM) version had a V8 mounted to last longer but all cars retired with power-steering failures. That was the official reading, most heard in the paddock was that the engines seized.
#35 Klaus Ludwig (D) / Bernd Schneider (D) / Mark Webber (AUS) – DNF / engine
Mercedes-Benz CLK-LM – 5.0 liter Mercedes-Benz GT108C V8 90º, approx. 600 hp. Carbon fibre monocoque, chassisnr. AMG #003
- SPARK S0161 (resin)
1999 Le Mans 24h, Mercedes-Benz CLR. The CLR was a GTP car based on the GTR-LM from 1998. It was very aerodynamic but that caused some horrific crashes. Webber (#4, picture) flew off during qualifying and warm-up and wasn’t able to start the race. Dumbreck (#5, video) had a similar off Saturday evening during the race. So Mercedes decided to pull back the sole remaining CLR.
#5 Christophe Bouchut (F) / Nick Heidfeld (D) / Peter Dumbreck (GB) – DNF / crash
Mercedes-Benz CLR – 5.0 liter Mercedes-Benz GT108C V8 90º, approx. 600 hp. Carbon fibre monocoque, chassisnr. AMG #004
- SPARK S0995 (resin)
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