Mercedes 300, History, nice read.

[Jub]

Cool read, what a car (check out the interior detailing):

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-european/curbside-classic-1951-1962-mercedes-300-w186-a-timeless-classic/

Jub.

[joshhol]

Good read. Didn't really know enough about the 300 til now.

[berfinroy]

Interesting tidbit on the true capabilities of the unorthodox M189 cylinderhead/combustion chamber design: It didn't make as much power as it was said to make (215 in the 300SL.
Jay Leno's shop restored a 300SL engine to factory specifications and could not get more than about 180hp out of it on their dynamometer. Perplexed, they started calling around to a variety of 300SL experts to find out what was amiss. The answer was: NOTHING. That's about all the hp the stock 300SL engines actually generated! It seems the germans were as good at exagerating hp out put as americans were in those days. (the true racing versions of the same engine undoubtedly made somewhat more)
And yet the 300SLs were indeed fast for the day, with top speed of around 150 depending on gearing. The reasons were... light weight= good acelleration and exceptional aerodynamics=high top speed.
P.S. American SAE hp ratings changed from the exagerated "gross" rating system to the more realistic "net" rating in 1972, which resulted in some shocking reductions in claimed hp. Of course, that was also the era of crippling smog emission standards that manufacturers were unable to overcome with the technologies of the day. They've sure learned a lot since!

[ATATEXAN]

Excellent article. Thank you for posting.